Since 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn. The robot probe (a joint effort of NASA, ESA, and the Italian space agency) received the most press when it launched a flying saucer lander onto Saturn’s planet-like moon Titan, but it is still out there doing amazing work. Last week, while I was busy writing about Halloween themes, the probe made its closest pass yet to Saturn’s ice moon, Enceladus. Enceladus is only 500 kilometers in diameter and it is coated in ice, but it is of great interest to scientists because ice plumes venting from the moon’s south pole seem to indicate a large polar subsurface ocean of liquid water. Warmed above freezing by tidal flux, this ocean beneath the ice probably has a thickness of around 10 km.
On October 30th, Cassini flew by the icy moon at the dangerously close distance of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles). The probe was directly above the south pole of Enceladus and it collected a little flake of ice to analyze (which strikes me as incredibly amazing and beautiful). It will take some time for the ship’s devices to assay the drop of water from an alien ocean, but Cassini also snapped some photos which we already have. These are taken from point blank range above the south pole. The ocean is down there beneath the scratches and scars. What is the nature of this icy ocean? How long has it been there? Could it possibly harbor life?
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November 4, 2015 at 12:34 AM
cb
Reblogged this on Contrafactual.
November 4, 2015 at 3:34 AM
agnesashe
It’s great to see what cooperation can achieve, isn’t it?
November 5, 2015 at 10:50 PM
Wayne
Why can’t we be more like this here on Earth? Although I guess the EU, the US, and Italy are pretty close companionaros.
November 6, 2015 at 4:31 AM
agnesashe
My friend, we can but live in hope.
November 10, 2015 at 12:56 PM
Wayne
How awkward if there are aliens there and we have to call them “Enceladalans”. It isn’t a euphonic name…
November 10, 2015 at 1:19 PM
agnesashe
That’s an amusing thought 😄
November 8, 2015 at 12:47 AM
Beatrix
“Could it possibly harbor life?”
“AMAZING LIVE SEA MONKEYS” ?!?!!!!
November 10, 2015 at 12:49 PM
Wayne
Oh my gosh, now I have that crazy picture of the underwater castle and the strange crowned sea monkey family in my head. I feel like everyone my age and older clearly remembers that strange magical vista. I wonder if those people made any money or if their grift fell apart just leaving that indelible picture in every little kid’s heart.