He saw mixed reactions to Enceladus at the time.

NASA's Cassini probe is the first to provide scientists with clear evidence of Enceladus' hydrothermal activity, suggesting that the moon's subsurface ocean is likely to be ready for life.

If confirmed, Enceladus would be the only planet in the solar system other than Earth where there is an interaction between hot water and the subsurface, and hydrothermal activity makes Enceladus a potential microbial moon. Scientists have discovered that some strange life on Earth can survive in hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor without sunlight.

NASA notes that the presence of such hydrothermal activity on planets other than Earth would open up unprecedented scientific possibilities. The discovery hints at Enceladus' subsurface ocean and its unique geological activity, which is potentially suitable for the survival of organisms. It is reported that scientists have surveyed that the underwater ocean of Enceladus is deeper than previously thought, located 48 kilometers below the surface of the satellite.

The location of Enceladus in the solar system and the possible presence of life in its extreme environment may reveal a mystery: Are humans on Earth the only ones in the universe?

Hydrothermal activity occurs when seawater infiltrates the rocky crust and reacts, usually in heated, mineral-containing liquids in the Earth's oceans. The study was published this week in the journal Nature.

After four years of space probe data analysis, computer simulations, and laboratory experiments, the researchers came to the conclusion that a tiny particle of Enceladus was likely formed during contact with cold water containing dissolved minerals. The interaction of tiny particles requires temperatures of at least 90 degrees Celsius, and we are excited to be excited by the fact that these tiny rock particles are ejected into space through geysers, which can help us grasp important information about the state of Enceladus's seafloor, according to Xiao En-Xu, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder.

On October 27, 2015, Beijing time, NASA's Cassini space probe will pass through one of the largest ice plumes on the surface of Enceladus, and scientists hope to learn more about the ocean beneath the ice crust of Enceladus.

The Cassini will collect samples of the ejecta and analyze its chemical composition. Cassini has previously crossed ice plumes erupting from the surface of Enceladus, but this mission will be the closest it will be to Enceladus' surface. At lower altitudes, Cassini will be able to detect heavier molecules, including organic matter that can prove the existence of life.

Astronomers believe that the material ejected from Enceladus originated from an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface. And this week, we're going to take a closer look at Enceladus beneath the ice.

NASA's Cassini space probe will fly by Enceladus again at the end of October, a historic moment that will unravel the mystery hidden beneath Enceladus' scarred exterior.

During this mission, the Cassini probe will fly just 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the surface of Enceladus and make the most recent "close encounter" with the plumed ejecta ejected from Enceladus' surface to date.

Since Cassini began exploring Saturn and its moons in 2004, images and data have returned that Enceladus' surface is riddled with fissures and craters. Enceladus is only 310 miles (498 kilometers) in diameter and is covered with a thick layer of ice beneath it is a sea of liquid water.

Scientists recently suggested that Enceladus' core may have generated enough heat to allow the water beneath the Earth's crust to remain liquid. As a result, Enceladus is considered by scientists to be one of the most likely planets in the solar system to produce extraterrestrial life.

This Wednesday, the Cassini probe will pass straight through a plume of ice. The ice plume is located in the Antarctic region of Enceladus, and scientists believe it originates in the ocean beneath the ice crust and erupts through the earth's crust.

NASA scientist involved in the Cassini project, Dr. Curt Nylber (Cu

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"Over the past decade, Cassini has made a number of major discoveries. ”

"For NASA and other partners involved in the Cassini project, the ice plume across the surface of Enceladus will be a great opportunity. Then we will be able to answer the question: 'Will there be essential elements for life in such a frozen marine world?'"

During the mission, Cassini will be carrying instruments to collect samples of the ejecta and analyze its chemical composition.

Cassini has previously crossed ice plumes erupting from the surface of Enceladus, but this mission will be the closest it will be to Enceladus' surface. At lower altitudes, Cassini will be able to detect heavier molecules, including organic matter that can prove the existence of life.

Scientists also hope that Cassini will have the opportunity to probe how much hydrothermal activity exists on Enceladus' surface and how these heat currents affect Enceladus' habitability.

Dr. Hu. Hunter Witt of the Southwestern Research Institute

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Waite, who led the Ion and Neutron Mass Spectrometer team on board Cassini, said: "If we can confirm that Enceladus' ice plume contains hydrogen molecules, we will be able to find another piece of evidence of hydrothermal activity on Enceladus' seabed." ”

"The amount of hydrogen is indicative of the scale of hydrothermal activity on Enceladus. ”

Cassini will fly Enceladus for the last time on December 19 and measure how much heat is emitted from Enceladus, at an altitude of 3,106 miles (4,998 kilometers).

The probe was only 16 miles (25 kilometers) above its surface when it was closest to Enceladus, but when it flew over the ice plume, it was located at a much higher altitude than this mission, so most of the eruptive material had already dissipated.

And in this week's upcoming mission, scientists will have a valuable opportunity to conduct detailed tests on the chemicals contained in the ice springs.

The source of these ice plumes is the geyser ice fountains on the surface of Enceladus, which spew 250 kilograms of water vapor, ice particles and volatile chemicals into the air at speeds of up to 1,360 miles per hour (2,188 kilometers per hour).

Scientists have compared these geysers to hydrothermal vents on Earth, where there are volcanic fissures in the Earth's seabed that can become very hot when seawater seeps into them. In the coldest corners of the ocean, the complex chemicals surrounding hydrothermal vents provide an oasis for a vast array of organisms.

Scientists hope that by using the cosmic dust analysis instrument aboard Cassini, the flyby mission will give us a better understanding of the chemical composition of the Enceladus ice plume.

In an attempt to discover microbes that may be present in Europa's subsurface sea, the Cassini probe dived into a plume of water, ice crystals and organic matter released from Enceladus' surface, and an independent study pointed to an area on Europa that could be an ideal location for future space missions to find extraterrestrial life.

The Cassini probe picked up a drop of water as it flew over the surface of Enceladus at 30,600 km/h, which scientists say is enough to answer some key questions about Enceladus, but it may take months to analyze and verify the data before any conclusions can be made.

Cassini Probe Mission Scientist Kurt Niebuhr (Cu)

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"This is an important step in a new era of exploration of the ocean world within the solar system, and Europa and Enceladus have the potential to become potential oases of extraterrestrial life," he said. It is reported that the Cassini probe does not have the instrumentation to directly detect life, but scientists hope to find detailed information about the subsurface ocean, which is thought to be the source of the Enceladus geyser plume. Scientists speculate that tidal gravity keeps the subterranean ocean in a liquid state.

In 2008, scientists observed water vapor ejecting from the surface of Enceladus. This observation proves the presence of liquid water on the satellite and supports the idea that life is possible on Enceladus.

Candace Hansen, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, led a team to study these plumes of up to 2,189 km/h — a rarity that often only occurs when water is present — after discovering the plumes.

Cassini provided information suggests that there may be a global ocean beneath the frozen surface of Enceladus. Cassini's analysis of the ice crystals it captured revealed that they were formed by the agglutination of salt water – a condition that typically occurs only in large areas of water. Therefore, there may also be extraterrestrial life on Enceladus. Another view is that Enceladus is not a vast ocean, but a wide range of caves filled with liquid water.

On August 13, 2009, scientists released the latest results of an analysis of water vapor ejected from the Antarctic region of Enceladus, and they found high concentrations of salt in ice crystal particles. In addition, Cassini found traces of organic compounds such as carbonates and dust particles. All of this evidence strongly supports the existence of an ocean beneath the surface of the satellite. The dust particles may even provide details about the ocean, which would normally require deep drilling to obtain.

The presence of liquid water beneath Enceladus' crust suggests the presence of an internal heat source within Enceladus. Now, scientists believe that the combination of radioactive decay and tidal effects provides the heat needed for liquid water to exist, because tidal effects alone cannot provide so much heat – for example, Saturn's other moon, Enceladus, is closer to Saturn than Enceladus, and its orbital eccentricity is greater, which means that the moon is affected by more powerful tidal effects than Enceladus, but its old, traumatized surface suggests that the moon appears to have ceased geological activity.

Enceladus is one of the three stars in the outer solar system that have been observed to date with geological eruptions (the other two being Europa and Triton). Enceladus is also considered an important object of astrobiology because of the liquid water below the surface of the star, and strange chemical components have also been found in the ejected plumes. In addition, the ejection phenomenon also provides important evidence for the idea that the material of the E-ring is derived from Enceladus.

According to the analysis of the Associated Press, this hypothesis is of great significance. If confirmed, Enceladus has the three main conditions for life: a constant source of heat, organic matter, and liquid water. "This tells us that, given Enceladus' internal conditions, it has been, or still is, likely to have biochemical reactions," Mattson said. ”

Of course, all hypotheses are just reasonable speculation after all. It's too early to say whether life existed on Enceladus. In March 2008, Cassini will again fly just 350 kilometers from Enceladus. At that time, there may be more mysteries of space to be unraveled one by one. Enceladus may be a source of material for Saturn's thin E rings. And since the substance could not have existed in the halo for thousands of years, it may be related to Enceladus' recent activity. It is also possible that the halo is maintained by high-speed colliding particles and different satellites.

According to New Scientist magazine, American Princeton physicist and futurist Freeman Dyson said that such life as flowering plants may exist on the cold Enceladus, because flowering plants are found in the North Pole of the Earth, and the environment of the Arctic and Europa is very similar, so the spacecraft should look for flowers on Europa, which is easy to spot.

On March 12, 2015, Japanese media reported that the University of Tokyo, the Japan Agency for Ocean Exploration and other international teams, together with international teams from Europe and the United States, discovered an environment with hot water on Saturn's second moon, Titan. It is said that this is the first time that humans have found an environment in the solar system that exists outside of Earth for life. The results have been published in the British scientific journal Nature.