Cassini, NASA's orbital spacecraft currently exploring the Saturn system, has begun its close flyby of Enceladus in the hopes of unlocking the secret to the moon's icy plumes.
Traveling at a speed of 19,000 miles per hour, Cassini is set to pass through a formation of frozen particles and ice vapors seen emanating from Enceladus' south pole.
The spacecraft is expected to fly at an altitude of about 30 miles from the moon's surface, close enough to provide agency scientists with high quality sampling of Enceladus' subterranean ocean.
Scientists believe Enceladus contains a massive liquid ocean located beneath its frozen crust. Cassini's scheduled dive into the moon's continuous plumes will be the closest the spacecraft has ever gotten to its surface, making the endeavor more perilous than earlier flybys.
While Cassini is not capable of detecting signs of life, experts hope that the spacecraft's latest flyby will allow them to collect valuable evidence pertaining to Enceladus' ability to sustain living organisms.
Curt Niebur, a program scientist at NASA, said the flyby will serve as a significant breakthrough in studying different ocean worlds found in the solar system.
Aside from Enceladus, other probable locations of alien ocean worlds include Titan, the largest moon in the Saturn system; Callisto, Ganymede and Europa, moons in the Jupiter system; and Ceres and Pluto, two identified dwarf planets.
"These are worlds with huge bodies of liquid water underneath their surfaces, bodies with great potential to provide oases for life throughout our solar system," Niebur explained.
"It's a journey in understanding about what makes a world habitable and where we might find life, and where we might one day live ourselves."
Enceladus' Icy Plumes
Scientists have long been interested in examining the chemical composition of the icy plumes ever since they were first observed erupting from Enceladus surface. They wish to determine whether the plumes are curtains of jet or tight columns emanating from surface fractures.
The primary goal of the Cassini spacecraft is to identify molecules of hydrogen in the plumes, evidence that would allow researchers to measure the amount hydrothermal activity stirring on the ocean floor. From these measurements, the team would then determine the salty ocean's potential for life.
Experts said that if evidence of life does exist in the subterranean ocean, it would most likely range from specimens of microscopic algae to tiny fish.
