14 DAY TRIAL // On Saturday, April 14, the NASA Cassini probe flew through the plumes ejected from the south pole of the Saturnine moon Enceladus. This celestial body is one of the most interesting in the solar system, and one of the most likely worlds to support microbial life ever discovered.
This flyby – which took the spacecraft about 46 miles (74 kilometers) above the moon's surface – took place just three weeks after the previous flight Cassini carried out close to this body. The reason experts are so interested in this tiny world is that it features geysers at its south pole.
These landscape features, called tiger stripes on account of their appearance, produce plumes of water molecules and organic molecules, which contribute to replenishing Saturn's E Ring. They also indicate that a liquid ocean exists deep below Enceladus' ices, Universe Today reports.
“Cassini has flown several times now through this spray and has tasted it. And we have found that aside from water and organic material, there is salt in the icy particles. The salinity is the same as that of Earth’s oceans,” said Carolyn Porco, the Cassini Imaging science team leader, in a recent interview.