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Science NASA Cassini may perform close encounter with Saturn’s Enceladus
Science NASA Cassini may perform close encounter with Saturn’s Enceladus | NASA Cassini may perform close encounter with Saturn’s Enceladus |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Friday, 03 August 2007 | |
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The orginal plan was to fly about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Enceladus in March 2008. But, NASA scientists are exceptionally curious about a plume of water vapor and ice crystals jetting out of several volcanic fissures in the south polar area of the moon. Through a bit of mathematical and computational calculations involving the trajectory of the spacecraft, scientists and engineers at the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California, United States) are confident that they can safely navigate the craft much closer, within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of the moon, give or take a few kilometers. The biggest problem with this close encounter is that the Cassini spacecraft could be damaged, specifically, the ice crystals rushing outward from the moon within the plumes could damage the delicate optical equipment onboard the probe. To counter this danger, the plan of action is to fly near the equator of Enceladus, while pointing Cassini’s equipment toward the south pole where the interesting plumes are erupting. In this way, the instruments onboard would be positioned in such a way as to be protected by the body of Cassini itself. Besides taking images of the icy plumes, Cassini mission managers are hopeful they can also analyze the chemical composition of the plumes. They are especially interested to see if the water vapor and ice contains ammonia, methane, or other compounds that may provide more information on the moon itself. The appearance of such substances are important for the search of primitive life in the solar system. One such hot spot could be Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Many other questions abound with scientists investigating the strange activities going on around the small icy moon of Saturn called Enceladus. And, NASA scientists think the risky trajectory close to Enceladus could pay off with some very important information. Whether the dangerous trajectory will be done, should be decided soon! For related information on Enceladus, also check out the iTWire articles “Enceladus geysers might be from plate friction, not erupting ice” (http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/12220/1075/) and “Hot Start model supports possible life on Saturn’s Enceladus” (http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/10424/). {moscomment}
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