NASA is offering U.S. schoolchildren a chance to control the Cassini spacecraft. The space agency is holding a contest for students in grades 5-12 to decide what part of Saturn the spacecraft will explore for nearly an hour on June 10. Cassini’s Science Planning Team has developed a list of three possible targets. “You are to weigh all the factors, and after choosing one of the three targets, explain the […]
TAG
“Saturn”
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin recently announced that the agency would cut back somewhat on Mars exploration so it can focus the outer planets. The space agency hopes to launch a “flagship” mission to either Jupiter or Saturn while at the same time funding a Mars sample return mission at the end of the next decade. The big question is: Can NASA afford it all? Taylor Dinerman explores this question in […]
Heat radiating from the entire length of 150 kilometer (95 mile)-long fractures is seen in this best-yet heat map of the active south polar region of Saturn’s ice moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
NASA PRESS RELEASE
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Cassini spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn’s moon Enceladus during a close flyby on March 12. Scientists are amazed that this tiny moon is so active, “hot” and brimming with water vapor and organic chemicals.
New heat maps of the surface show higher temperatures than previously known in the south polar region, with hot tracks running the length of giant fissures. Additionally, scientists say the organics “taste and smell” like some of those found in a comet. The jets themselves harmlessly peppered Cassini, exerting measurable torque on the spacecraft, and providing an indirect measure of the plume density.
“A completely unexpected surprise is that the chemistry of Enceladus, what’s coming out from inside, resembles that of a comet,” said Hunter Waite, principal investigator for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “To have primordial material coming out from inside a Saturn moon raises many questions on the formation of the Saturn system.”
After years of brilliant success studying the Red Planet, scientists and engineers working on NASA’s Mars exploration are getting their just desserts: deep cutbacks in their programs for the next four years.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin announced last week that he was refocusing the agency’s exploration budget on the outer planets. RedOrbit.com reports that NASA is requesting around $343 million annually for Mars exploration for 2009-12, just over half the $620 million it had estimated just a year ago.
Griffin said the change was spurred by a recent National Research Council report which gave the agency an “A” for its Mars work and a “D” for its exploration of the outer worlds.
“After Mars Science Lab – the current planetary sciences flagship – we are now planning in earnest for an outer planets flagship to Europa, Titan or Ganymede,” Griffin told attendees at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston last week.
NASA PRESS RELEASE
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft performed a daring flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus on Wednesday, March 12, flying about 15 kilometers per second (32,000 mph) through icy water geyser-like jets. The spacecraft snatched up precious samples that might point to a water ocean or organics inside the little moon.
Scientists believe the geysers could provide evidence that liquid water is trapped under the icy crust of Enceladus. The geysers emanate from fractures running along the moon’s south pole, spewing out water vapor at approximately 400 meters per second (800 mph).
The new data provide a much more detailed look at the fractures that modify the surface and will give a significantly improved comparison between the geologic history of the moon’s north pole and south pole.
NASA PRESS RELEASE
PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will make an unprecedented “in your face” flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus on Wed., March 12.
The spacecraft, orchestrating its closest approach to date, will skirt along the edges of huge Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fractures on the south pole of Enceladus. Cassini will sample scientifically valuable water-ice, dust and gas in the plume. (You can keep up with latest events on NASA’s official Enceladus Flyby blog.)
The source of the geysers is of great interest to scientists who think liquid water, perhaps even an ocean, may exist in the area. While flying through the edge of the plumes, Cassini will be approximately 120 miles from the surface. At closest approach to Enceladus, Cassini will be only 30 miles from the moon.