A spacecraft is to be sent through a fountain of icy spray that is coming out of an alien ocean that could have life within it. The Cassini craft is to fly past Saturn's moon Enceladus.
And scientists hope that it can come to understand the makeup of the mysterious watery world, which some scientists think could have life beneath its surface.
Scientists have already confirmed that there is an ocean covering its entire globe, underneath its icy shell. And this week the probe will fly through a geyser that is shooting out of the moon's south polar region, about 48 km above the surface. During the approach, instruments on board the craft will sample the spray and analyse the cocktail of chemicals within. Higher plume encounters have been made before, but the low sweep will allow Cassini to access heavier molecules including organics.
Dr Curt Niebur, Cassini pro gramme scientist at the American space agency Nasa's headquarters in Washington DC, said: "This incredible plunge through the Enceladus plume is an amazing opportunity for Nasa and its partners on the Cassini mission to ask, `can an icy ocean world host the ingredients for life?'" The plume is fed by icy geysers that blast 250 kg of water vapour, ice grains and volatile chemicals into space at 2189 kmph and are thought to originate deep beneath the moon's surface.
And scientists hope that it can come to understand the makeup of the mysterious watery world, which some scientists think could have life beneath its surface.
Scientists have already confirmed that there is an ocean covering its entire globe, underneath its icy shell. And this week the probe will fly through a geyser that is shooting out of the moon's south polar region, about 48 km above the surface. During the approach, instruments on board the craft will sample the spray and analyse the cocktail of chemicals within. Higher plume encounters have been made before, but the low sweep will allow Cassini to access heavier molecules including organics.
Dr Curt Niebur, Cassini pro gramme scientist at the American space agency Nasa's headquarters in Washington DC, said: "This incredible plunge through the Enceladus plume is an amazing opportunity for Nasa and its partners on the Cassini mission to ask, `can an icy ocean world host the ingredients for life?'" The plume is fed by icy geysers that blast 250 kg of water vapour, ice grains and volatile chemicals into space at 2189 kmph and are thought to originate deep beneath the moon's surface.
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