Water on Enceladus


This is why you can't completely rule something out until you have evidence against it. In the US Justice system, that's called innocent until proven guilty. In Science, it's called a hypothesis. Religion calls it belief, but doesn't even try to question such.

In this case, it's empirical evidence in support of a hypothesis (some of Saturn's moons may have water on them,) and it leads to theories explaining the evidence and giving us better ideas for working with and benefitting from it.

Regardless, this is just seriously freakin' cool!
Cassini Spots Water Geysers on Saturn Moon - Yahoo! News:

By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer
Thu Mar 9, 8:41 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - The orbiting Cassini spacecraft has spotted what appear to be water geysers on one of Saturn's icy moons, raising the tantalizing possibility that the celestial object harbors life.

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The water is believed to come from underground reservoirs (at the South Pole) that are under high pressure. Porco said the venting has probably been going on for at least several thousand years, perhaps indicating a lasting heat source underground.

Cassini found the geysers are mostly made up of water vapor and ice particles with significant amounts of carbon dioxide and trace amounts of methane — all of which probably help to replenish the moon's atmosphere."
It's discoveries like this one that have helped pushed me away from intense support for the current manned space program, and behind the idea of unmanned probes. What good to send people out to die when a few more decades of robotic study can make their eventual survival so much more likely? We're going to need water where ever we go. Missions like this which return such important and relevant discoveries make our eventual off-planet survivability quotient rise to much more realistic levels.

I hope NASA's leadership can use this information to convince future Administrations (I really have given up on this one) that Science is much more than silly national pride.

Regardless though, water out at the orbit Saturn is GOOD n
ews!

Comments

  1. A watering hole! That IS cool. I bet there are corporations out there today laying claim to the water rights.

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  2. Yah man. I wouldn't doubt it. Hey, if they can actually get there to lay a claim, I'd say more power to 'em.

    I'd even give 'em Tax incentives on their sales if the tech they used to get out that far w/o NASA is open sourced.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Saw this, but hadn't read about it. Water anywhere is very cool. One thing I love is when they find animals (especially in depths of ocean) that they never knew about. Last week they found hairy white lobster-like animals, but can't remember where. Animals like these prove areas assumed to be inhospitable to life can be teaming with it. There is no way there isn't life "out there" in some form or another.

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  4. Yah, I saw that crab on Pharyngula. Apparently it lives in thermal vents where the heat from lava just beneath the ocean floor gives it lots of microscopic food.

    The latest theories of abiogenesis suggest this may be the most logical place to find primary emergent life on, or under, any planetary surface.

    THAT really does make these guysers even more spectacular in their potential.

    Gotta love it!

    ReplyDelete

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