NASA Cassini Spacecraft Zooms in on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Today

Discovering that Enceladus wobbles slightly as it orbits Saturn led scientists to conclude the underground ocean is a global one. In early-mission encounters, the northern terrain of Enceladus was masked by wintry darkness.

The geysers, along with the presence of a global ocean of water on Enceladus, and evidence of hydrothermal activity – similar to the activity we see on the ocean floor here on Earth – may mean that the Saturn moon is one of the best places in the solar system to search for life beyond our own planet. Starting today, the spacecraft is starting a series of three close encounters, which will reveal a few of the first close-up looks of the polar region of the moon. The spacecraft has reached a height of 1,142 miles above the surface of the moon. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 40. The answer has to do with the seasons on Enceladus.

Agency scientists believe structures observed during Cassini’s approach could help determine whether Enceladus’ northern region was also active geologically at one point in the moon’s history.

Cassini spacecraft image from 2010 of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Its icy plumes were first spotted by the spacecraft in 2005, and subsequent flybys yielded more insight into the material being spewed out of warm fractures in its south polar region. The jet emanate from the fissures known to scientists as “tiger stripes” on this moon.

On December. 19, the probe will conduct its final flyby of Enceladus.

But the craft isn’t satisfied yet and will dive back down straight into the moon’s icy plume on October 28, coming within 30 miles of the moon’s south pole.

Researchers are hopeful that the encounter will provide them with evidence of the amount of hydrothermal activity occurring in the subterranean ocean of Enceladus and how it affects the moon’s habitability.

This series is part of a long series of “lasts” for Cassini.

Cassini, Saturn’s spacecraft already had its close encounter with Enceladus – the planet’s large icy moon – on Wednesday, October 14 according to NASA.

“If the surface and core were rigidly connected, the core would provide so much dead weight the wobble would be far smaller than we observe it to be”, said Cassini scientist Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute.

In the following close encounters with Enceladus, NASA scientists plan to gather as much information on the moon as they can since they will not have a similar chance for many years to come.