PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 30 (UPI) — Cassini is already returning images from its latest flyby, a trip on Wednesday that saw the probe plunge through the icy plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
So far only a handful of images have been processed by the Cassini team and uploaded by NASA. The spacecraft will continue to beam back imagery and data collected during the close encounter over the next several days.
“Cassini’s stunning images are providing us a quick look at Enceladus from this ultra-close flyby, but some of the most exciting science is yet to come,” Linda Spilker, a project scientist on the mission, said in a news release.
Cassini has executed a number of survey missions, documenting the surface of Enceladus in great detail. Its latest mission is concerned more with what’s in the air than what’s on the ground.
The probe’s descent brought it within 30 miles of Enceladus’ south pole, where fissures in the moon’s frozen crust spew icy vapor from its internal ocean. On its trip through the icy plumes, Cassini’s gas analyzer and dust collector took samples.
In the days ahead, scientists will be studying the results. Mission scientists are hopeful the new information will offer insights into the ocean below.
Researchers believe hydrothermal activity, at least partially brought on by the push and pull of Saturn’s gravity, explains both the moon’s inner ocean and its polar plumes. But scientists want to know more, like how old the hydrothermal activity is, where it’s concentrated and to what degree.
Scientists are also intrigued to learn the chemical composition of the liquid ocean and to find out whether or not its salty insides could harbor life.
For now, though, the questions remained unanswered. There are only images.
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