Cassini spacecraft flyby of Saturn moon to look for clues of lifeThe Cassini spacecraft is in for an icy shower as it passes within 30 miles (50km) of one of Saturn’s many moons on Wednesday.Jets of water vapour and frozen particles erupting from the south pole of the moon, Enceladus, are expected to provide the best sampling yet of its underground ocean.Cassini will be traveling 19,000 mph (30,580 kph), so it should take just an instant to penetrate the plume.A global liquid ocean is believed to exist beneath the frozen crust of the moon, which is 300m (500km) wide. Wednesday’s dive will be the deepest one yet through the continuous plumes, making the enterprise a bit riskier than usual.Launched in 1997, Cassini is not equipped to detect life, but scientists hope Wednesday’s flyby will provide clues as to the possibility of it.Researchers are eager to identify the chemical makeup of Enceladus’ plumes. They also hope to confirm whether the eruptions are tight columns or curtains of jets running along fractures in the south pole.In particular, the spacecraft will be looking to identify hydrogen molecules in the plume, which would help quantify hydrothermal activity occurring on the ocean floor. That, in turn, would help characterize the potential for life in this slightly salty ocean.Cassini’s orbit around Saturn will not be disturbed by the plume penetration, scientists asserted. The US-European spacecraft has two years of life remaining before it plunges into Saturn’s atmosphere and vaporises.
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