SATURN’S MOON ENCELADUS HOSTS A GLOBAL OCEAN (SETI Institute)

(Source: SETI Institute) MOUNTAIN VIEW - Every square inch of Saturn's small moon Enceladus overlies a potentially habitable ocean. Observations of Enceladus' slight wobble as it orbits Saturn can only be explained if the outer crust floats freely from the inner core, according to scientists studying images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. This means there is a globe-spanning ocean beneath Enceladus' icy surface. Enceladus has been a prime location for studying the potential for life in the solar system for the past decade, since Cassini found in 2006 a fine spray of water vapor, icy particles, and simple organic molecules erupting from fractures near Enceladus' south pole. Measurements...