Has there been any missions to Enceladus?
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft left a legacy of discoveries behind when its 13-year-mission to Saturn ended in 2017. One of the biggest findings: the icy Moon Enceladus has a subsurface ocean that vents water into space.
What is special about Enceladus?
Cassini revealed the dramatic truth: Enceladus is an active moon that hides a global ocean of liquid salty water beneath its crust. What’s more, jets of icy particles from that ocean, laced with a brew of water and simple organic chemicals, gush out into space continuously from this fascinating ocean world.
Which spacecraft went to Enceladus?
Enceladus was discovered on August 28, 1789, by William Herschel, but little was known about it until the two Voyager spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, flew by Saturn in 1980 and 1981….Enceladus.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Eccentricity | 0.0047 |
| Orbital period (sidereal) | 1.370218 d |
| Inclination | 0.009° (to Saturn’s equator) |
| Satellite of | Saturn |
What is the evidence for life on Enceladus?
Now, new research from a team of biologists suggests life on Enceladus might indeed be quite possible … and that we might already have evidence for it. Something is producing a lot of methane on Enceladus, or rather in its subsurface ocean. And methane can be a life sign.
Is NASA planning a mission to Enceladus?
Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a proposed astrobiology mission concept for a NASA spacecraft intended to assess the habitability of the internal aquatic ocean of Enceladus, which is Saturn’s sixth-largest moon and seemingly similar in chemical makeup to comets.
Does Enceladus support life?
Summary: Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists modeled chemical processes in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The studies indicate the possibility that a varied metabolic menu could support a potentially diverse microbial community in the liquid water ocean beneath the moon’s icy facade.
Is Enceladus habitable?
A new study published in Nature Astronomy further investigates Enceladus’ possible habitability, comparing Earth’s deep-sea plumes, where microbial life thrives, with the ones found on the icy moon, and suggesting that they may be home to Earth-like microorganisms.
Is Enceladus geologically active?
Abstract. Enceladus is a small icy moon of Saturn that is geologically active, with an uncratered, tectonized region at the south pole characterized by excess thermal emission and geysers of salty ice grains, water vapor, and organic compounds.
What is special about Io?
Io — Jupiter’s fifth moon — is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Io’s surface is peppered with hundreds of volcanoes, some spewing sulfurous plumes hundreds of miles high.
Can life survive on Enceladus?
Bottom line: A new study from Southwest Research Institute shows that the interior of Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus is more geochemically complex that previously thought, making the ocean quite habitable for possible life.
How long is a year on Enceladus?
33 hoursEnceladus / Orbital period