http://truthufo.blogspot.com/: Enceladus, a moon of Saturn could harbour water and perhaps life

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn could harbour water and perhaps life

The U.S. probe Cassini has detected temperatures and complex organic molecules attesting to the presence of water and living conditions possible on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, according to NASA.

On 12 March, Cassini has detected a high density of water vapour and complex organic molecules, flying over the south pole of Enceladus about 50 km altitude, indicated Wednesday officials of the U.S. space agency.

The probe has moved directly into a gigantic ice gushing geyser fault current on the frozen surface of the south pole of the moon of 505 km in diameter. She detected temperatures of -93 degrees Celsius, high enough to suggest that temperatures beneath the surface of Enceladus would be compatible with the presence of liquid water, one of the criteria for that life is possible, said John Spencer, a scientific mission.

"This means that there is an important energy level deployed to the surface in this region," he added. "It is quite possible that the liquid water not far beneath the surface of these vulnerabilities," he said.

"We see on Enceladus three basic ingredients to the origin of life, energy, organic compounds and water, said Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado, who works on the Cassini imaging .

This is the 1st of 4 flights Cassini planned this year to explore this geyser to be trained to 90% of crystals of water ice.

A study published on February 7 by the British scientific journal Nature tended to confirm qu'Encelade could harbour of water in liquid form in his basement in the region of the South Pole.

The analysis speeds deportation of the various elements of geysers detected by the U.S. probe Cassini in the vicinity of the area dubbed "scratches tigre", suggests that part has come from water, then explained the main author, Jurgen Schmidt , University of Potsdam (Germany).

A preliminary study had concluded that these geysers could be explained by the effect of the tides which is submitted this small icy body, by its proximity to Saturn. It is an ocean exists under the layer of ice that covers Enceladus, at least in the region of the South Pole, to move the crust of ice, the researchers concluded. The results of the new study "implies that water in liquid form are" well, according to the authors of the article published in February. Launched in 1997, Cassini-Huygens is the first space mission devoted to the exploration of Saturn. It is conducted by NASA, which has made the orbital module Cassini and the European Space Agency (ESA), a provider of the Huygens probe that has arisen on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

The spacecraft was inserted into orbit Satur