NASA: Enceladus has all the conditions for the emergence and maintenance of life

Saturn 's satellite Enceladus is one of the places in the solar system where life should be sought first. So say scientists from the Cassini mission team from NASA. As part of this mission, an interplanetary probe, which arrived at Saturn in 2004, was launched into space. The device was launched in 1997 and spent the last decade studying this planet and its satellites. He is now completing his work. Cassini helped to detect hydrothermal springs at the bottom of the planetoid, which are fully capable of supporting life, even the simplest, for example, microorganisms. On Earth, such sources are called "black smokers", in different regions of the oceans, they provide quite comfortable existence for the inhabitants of the near-bottom areas.

It is worth noting that scientists quickly study Enceladus. Only a couple of years ago it was proved that there is an ice-cold ocean on the planetoid. Now scientists are gradually learning about the physicochemical properties of this ocean. Earlier it was shown that on Enceladus there are regular releases of fluid into the surrounding space.


By geological standards, Enceladus has a young surface. The satellite revolves around Saturn in an elliptical orbit, which, according to scientists, leads to a permanent deformation of the planetoid. It serves as a source of heat that heats the ocean. According to experts, the depth of this ocean can be about 60 kilometers, and under it - a stone core. At the bottom the water temperature can reach 90 ° C. Liquid water and heat - the fundamental factors contributing to the emergence of life and its maintenance. In any case, modern science thinks so.
')
As for cryovolcanoes, they were first discovered on Enceladus in 2005. Then Cassini just transferred pictures of the satellite of Saturn to Earth. Since then, scientists have repeatedly observed emissions of steam and ice from cracks in the ice shell of Enceladus.


In 2005, Cassini received high-resolution images of Enceladus. After analyzing the images, it became clear that the ice crust is covered with cracks and craters. This image was obtained by combining 21 photographs of Enceladus. Colors are not true

In 2015, the device flew five times over the surface of Enceladus, diving through steam fountains in order to collect the necessary data on its composition. For this work, the probe has everything you need, including the INMS spectrometer. Chemical analysis showed that organic and nitrogen-containing molecules were present in the composition of the jets, silicates and other chemical compounds were present. This, according to experts, is direct evidence of the contact of the ocean with a solid rock - the bottom.

Scientists after analyzing the data transmitted by the probe, learned that Enceladus had a rather high content of molecular hydrogen in ocean water. Representatives of the Cassini mission told about this at a special conference dedicated to the discoveries at Enceladus. Molecular hydrogen can be formed by the interaction of hot water with rocks. “Now we are close to finding a place with the maximum combination of ingredients necessary to sustain life,” said one of the conference participants.

One of the factors that can be decisive is the presence of molecular hydrogen, as mentioned above. Microorganisms are able to use hydrogen to react with carbon dioxide dissolved in water to produce methane as the final product. And already methane microbes can be used as an energy source.


One of the frames from the NASA conference

Surprisingly, it is Enceladus - a small planetoid, completely covered with ice and remote from the Sun for millions of kilometers, has everything necessary for the existence of life. So far it is unclear whether there is sulfur and phosphorus in the water of the ocean of Enceladus, which are also needed by microorganisms. But scientists believe that this is quite likely, since bottom rocks may well contain these two elements.

“Confirmation that the chemical energy necessary for life exists is available in the ocean of Saturn’s small moon - an important milestone in the search for habitable worlds beyond Earth,” said Linda Spilker, a Cassini team spokeswoman.

It is too early to talk about the existence of life on Enceladus. But scientists now have confidence that such an ocean, which exists under the ice of Saturn's moon, may well support life. By the way, similar conditions may exist on the satellite of Jupiter Europe.

Perhaps now NASA will revise its plans. Earlier, the agency planned to begin the mission of sending an automatic station to Europe, but maybe now such a station (which has not even been developed yet) will fly to Enceladus.