- 3157 - ENCELADUS - can we explore for life? 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 was the icy Moon Enceladus.
- ----------------------- 3157 - ENCELADUS - can we explore for life?
- It has a subsurface ocean that vents water into space. Fissures slashed across the south pole have temperatures warm enough to suggest the ocean is being heated by the moon’s core. On Earth, similar spots called hydrothermal vents are hotspots for life.
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- A team of scientists and engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland are pitching NASA a mission that would take a closer look. It’s called Orbilander, named for its ability to function as both an orbiter and a lander.
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- Orbilander’s mission is geared towards a single question: is there life on Enceladus?
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- A flagship mission with a price tag of $2.5 billion, Orbilander, is a concept being studied for the next planetary science mission.
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An Orbiter and a Lander would start by orbiting Enceladus for approximately 200 days which is no simple task with Saturn’s giant gravity field.
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- Enceladus’ plumes are not very dense. Orbilander will be flying through something more like a cloud than a garden sprinkler. Particles from the plumes will funnel into science instruments at high speeds as the spacecraft zips along, requiring the team to devise ways to gently decelerate them so they aren’t pulverized.
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- A lot of the time in orbit will be spent looking for the right place to land. Despite Cassini’s extensive surveillance of Saturn and its moons, there isn’t enough high-resolution topography data available for Enceladus’ south pole.
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- Once a location is found, Orbilander would turn on its side and convert to a lander. It would descend using terrain-relative navigation similar to what OSIRIS-REx will use to capture a sample from asteroid Bennu, and what the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan will use to fly around the surface.
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- Two nuclear power sources will keep Orbilander running surface for up to a year and a half. Orbilander would rely on a complex suite of instruments to determine whether Enceladus’ water has a blend of chemicals conducive for life as we know it, and search for amino acids, lipids, and cells.
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- The instruments include mass spectrometers to weigh and analyze molecules, a seismometer, a microscope, and a DNA sequencer. For remote sensing, the spacecraft would have cameras, radar sounders, and a laser altimeter.
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- Six different instruments will be used to provide indications of several different biosignatures.
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- Unlike most other moons with subsurface oceans, Enceladus’ geysers offer a unique opportunity to sample the water without having to drill through the surface. Not only will Orbilander access the plumes by flying through them in orbit, it will also capture plume material falling back to the surface after the spacecraft lands.
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- Enceladus' south pole appears all-white, but infrared and ultraviolet views have used color to highlight fractures where the moon's subsurface ocean vents into space. The vents are commonly called "tiger stripes.
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- It is an opportunity waiting for us to take advantage of. There is no better place in the solar system to do the search for life in the near-future.
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- 2940 - ENCELADUS - visit Saturn’s moon? One of the biggest findings was that the icy Moon Enceladus has a subsurface ocean that vents water into space. Fissures slashed across the south pole have temperatures warm enough to suggest the ocean is being heated by the moon’s core. On Earth, similar spots called hydrothermal vents are hotspots for life.
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- 2864 - ENCELADUS - Saturn’s moon. Enceladus, named after one of the Giants in Greek mythology, has an icy surface that reflects 81 percent of the light falling on it. Saturn’s sixth-largest moon, Enceladus has a diameter of only 310 miles, and a mass less than 1/50,000 that of Earth.
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- 1786 - Enceladus - Saturn’s moon. This review describes what we have learned from recent space probes. It’s a whole new world to spur the imagination. Enceladus has groves in its surface that are measurably warmer than the surrounding terrain. These groves are venting huge clouds of water vapor and ice crystals. Enceladus is barely 500 kilometers across ( 311 miles ). It would fit inside the borders of Colorado.
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- 1714 - Saturn’s moon - Enceladus New discoveries suggest an underwater ocean that contains ammonia anti-freeze and exits plums or geysers through the thick icy crust on the surface. Check the data and see if you agree?
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- 1362 - Enceladus - Saturn’s moon Enceladus was first discovered in 1789. It is only 310 miles in diameter, 1/7th the diameter of the Moon. The surface of Enceladus is water ice. In 1980 Voyager 2 spacecraft photographed Enceladus’ craters, narrow valleys, groves and ridges. It found sharp edged canyons 120 miles long, 5 miles wide, and ½ mile deep. All later to be discovered as water ice.
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- 1166 - Saturn has 62 moons. The plums on Enceladus are called cryo-volcanoes. The temperature of the water is -136 F but still liquid because it contains ammonia which is a natural anti-freeze.
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- 1362 - The escape velocity is only 500 miles per hour. The temperature is -337 F
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- 957 - Enceladus is 311 miles in diameter and would fit inside the state of Colorado. It is the second closest moon orbiting Saturn outside the rings by 148,000 miles
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- May 14, 2021 ENCELADUS - can we explore for life? 3157
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