NASA Finds Evidence of Hydrothermal Vents on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
NASA has made the next big announcement about Saturn:
The Cassini team found evidence of hydrothermal vents on Enceladus’s ocean
floor.
What are hydrothermal vents?
Hydrothermal vents are fissures in the rocky core of Enceladus.
They release water that has been heated by geothermal activity, and the jets of
hot water carry minerals and nutrients that could support life.
Significance of this discovery:
Hydrothermal vents were detected by the Cassini spacecraft when it
flew through the water geysers that erupt from Enceladus’s surface. Microbes,
algae, tube worms, crabs, and even fish swim around hydrothermal vents in
Earth’s oceans. Maybe a similar alien ecosystem exists on the seafloor of
Enceladus.
About Cassini Mission:
Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet
Saturn. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to
enter orbit.
- Its design includes a Saturn orbiter and a lander for the moon Titan. The lander, called Huygens, landed on Titan in 2005. The spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System.
Objectives:
- Determine the three-dimensional structure and dynamic
behavior of the rings of Saturn.
- Determine the composition of the satellite surfaces and the
geological history of each object.
- Determine the nature and origin of the dark material on
Iapetus’s leading hemisphere.
- Measure the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior
of the magnetosphere.
- Study the dynamic behavior of Saturn’s atmosphere at cloud
level.
- Study the time variability of Titan’s clouds and hazes.
- Characterize Titan’s surface on a regional scale.
