[meteorite-list] Cassini Flies Through Watery Plumes of SaturnMoon Enceladus

From: Jerry <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:27:37 -0400
Message-ID: <9141E20203DD4F0487704D419228C2BE_at_Notebook>

I concur Mike, and thanks as always Ron for sharing.
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Murray" <mmurray at montrose.net>
To: "Ron Baalke" <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
Cc: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 8:50 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Cassini Flies Through Watery Plumes of
SaturnMoon Enceladus


> You gotta love Enceladus. Bright white with at least five different
> types of terrain on it but mostly looks to be one huge ice ball. How in
> seven suns did it establish itself as a satellite of Saturn? I'm anxious
> to hear more about the analysis of the geysers.
>
> Thanks Mr. Baalke for the updates. Most interesting.
>
> Mike Murray
> micro hunter of southwest Colorado
>
> On Mar 14, 2008, at 4:43 PM, Ron Baalke wrote:
>
>>
>> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-044
>>
>> Cassini Flies Through Watery Plumes of Saturn Moon
>> Jet Propulsion Laboratory
>> March 13, 2008
>>
>> NASA's Cassini spacecraft performed a daring flyby of Saturn's moon
>> Enceladus on Wed., 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.
>>
>> New images show that compared to much of the southern hemisphere on
>> Enceladus--the south polar region in particular--the north polar region
>> is much older and pitted with craters of various sizes. These craters
>> are captured at different stages of disruption and alteration by
>> tectonic activity, and probably from past heating from below. Many of
>> the craters seem sliced by small parallel cracks that appear to be
>> ubiquitous throughout the old cratered terrains on Enceladus.
>>
>> "These new images are showing us in great detail how the moon's north
>> pole differs from the south, an important comparison for working out the
>> moon's obviously complex geological history," said Carolyn Porco,
>> Cassini imaging team leader, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
>> "And the success of yesterday's daring and very low-altitude flyby means
>> this coming summer's very close encounter, when we get exquisitely
>> detailed images of the surface sources of Enceladus' south polar jets,
>> should be an exciting 'next big step' in understanding just how the jets
>> are powered."
>>
>> This week's flyby and another one planned for Oct. 9, 2008, were
>> designed so that Cassini's particle analyzers could dissect the "body"
>> of the plume for information on the density, size, composition and speed
>> of the particles. Among other things, scientists will use the data
>> gathered this week to figure out whether the gases from the plume match
>> the gases that make up the halo of particles around Enceladus. This may
>> help determine how the plumes formed.
>>
>> During Cassini's closest approach, two instruments were collecting
>> data--the Cosmic Dust Analyzer and the Ion and Neutral Mass
>> Spectrometer. An unexplained software hiccup with Cassini's Cosmic Dust
>> Analyzer instrument prevented it from collecting any data during closest
>> approach, although the instrument did get data before and after the
>> approach. During the flyby, the instrument was switching between two
>> versions of software programs. The new version was designed to increase
>> the ability to count particle hits by several hundred hits per second.
>> The other four fields and particles instruments on the spacecraft, in
>> addition to the ion and neutral mass spectrometer, did capture all of
>> their data, which will complement the overall composition studies and
>> elucidate the unique plume environment of Enceladus.
>>
>> Cassini's instruments discovered evidence for the geyser-like jets on
>> Enceladus in 2005, finding that the continuous eruptions of ice water
>> create a gigantic halo of ice dust and gas around Enceladus, which helps
>> supply material to Saturn's E-ring.
>>
>> This was the first of four Cassini flybys of Enceladus this year. During
>> Wednesday's flyby, the spacecraft came within 50 kilometers (30 miles)
>> of the surface at closest approach, 200 kilometers (120 miles) while
>> flying through the plume. Future trips may bring Cassini even closer to
>> the surface of Enceladus. Cassini will complete its prime mission, a
>> four-year tour of Saturn, in June. From then on, a proposed extended
>> mission would include seven more Enceladus flybys. The next Enceladus
>> flyby would take place in August of this year.
>>
>> For more images and more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ cassini
>> and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .
>>
>> The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
>> European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of
>> the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the
>> Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
>> Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at
>> JPL.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --
>>
>> Media Contact: Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382
>> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
>> carolina.martinez at jpl.nasa.gov
>>
>> Preston Dyches 720-974-5859
>> Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
>> media at ciclops.org
>>
>> 2008-044
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Received on Fri 14 Mar 2008 10:27:37 PM PDT