Cassini Finds Evidence of Water

CheshireCatCO writes "Scientists working on the Cassini Mission think that they have found compelling evidence for the existence of liquid water at the south pole of the moon Enceladus. In addition to the obvious puzzles relating to how temperatures can be held high enough for liquid water, the presence of water, as well as the detection of organic molecules, opens up the possibility for life at Enceladus's south polar region. The findings are to appear in the 10 March issue of the journal, Science"

Comments

That is some cold water

[digitaldc]

In the spring of 2008, scientists will get another chance to look at Enceladus when Cassini flies within 350 kilometers (approximately 220 miles), but much work remains after Cassini's four-year prime mission is over.

We need a closer look, but it would be interesting to gather some samples of this water and see if it contains microorganisms of any kind.

Re:That is some cold water

[Anonymous Coward]

The practicality of sending a probe to the surface of a far-flung moon for remote experimentation or return payload for terrestrial experimentation aside, the worry with such a procedure would be contamination. The Galileo Spacecraft was plowed into Jupiter's atmosphere to prevent any earth-bound contaminants from entering Europa, another planetoid that's on the short list of places that are likely to be able to support life. Some might see it as a grand irony if our experiment to find out if there's life on Enceladus, only to find that earth-bound microorganisms take seed there and multiply. It's an entirely different irony if the probe ends up being toxic to the indigenous life.

So, do we sit back, millions of miles away, speculating as to whether life exists there, or endanger the life we seek to discover by "getting a closer look" to see if it exists? Quite a conundrum, isn't it?

Re:Yeah, sure... or How I Love Grants

[WillAffleckUW]

1) Suggest a possible discovery of liquid water out there
2) Make allusion to possibility of life emerging there
3) ???
4) Grant Funding!

Well, the avian-human transmission of influenza was actually discovered by a research scientist who wanted an excuse to go surfing in Australia, so he proposed a grant to study if seabirds were a reservoir for influenza that infects humans.

Turns out they were. Plus, he got some good surf in.

So, maybe we should investigate the surfing potential of this moon, and maybe we'll discover a cure for cancer ...

Re:Saturn

[dotslash]

Also notable: This finding is more puzzling because Enceladus is not thought to have "volcanic" activity. It is too small and cold to sustain a molten core, or plate tectonics. Which makes this finding the ultimate irony, since Enceladus is the ancient greek god/giant of volcanos, who was burried under mount Etna, hence the volcano there.

When they named Enceladus, the moon was considered incapable of sustaining volcanic activity, but maybe the name changed all that!

Re:Supercooled water

[LunaticTippy]

Your observations are dead on.

Anything that seeds the crystallization will do - an ice crystal works best, but particles or shock will do.

I had a bottle of cider camping (I don't know the temperature, but my kerosene froze) that stayed liquid until I opened it. Spiderwebs of ice forming inside, quite beautiful, followed by the crack of the bottle breaking.