NASA finds energy source and molecule at Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Subject :Science and Tech

Section: Space technology

Context:

NASA has found evidence of a key ingredient for life (hydrogen cyanide) and a supercharged energy source to fuel it, at Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Researchers also uncovered evidence that an ocean, which is hiding below the moon’s icy outer shell and supplies the plume, holds a powerful source of chemical energy.
The combination of carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen in the plume was suggestive of methanogenesis, a metabolic process that produces methane.

Significance of the finding:

It indicates there may be more chemical energy inside Enceladus than previously thought.
It provides evidence that the moon is a host to important molecules for both creating the building blocks of life and sustaining that life through metabolic reactions.
Enceladus seem to meet the basic requirements for habitability.

Enceladus:

It is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System).
It is about a tenth of that of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
It is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Solar System.
Consequently, its surface temperature at noon reaches only −198 °C (75.1 K; −324.4 °F), far colder than a light-absorbing body would be. Despite its small size, Enceladus has a wide range of surface features, ranging from old, heavily cratered regions to young, tectonically deformed terrain.
The giant plume of ice grains and water vapour spewing from Enceladus is rich in organic compounds.

Cassini mission:

Cassini–Huygens, commonly called Cassini, was a space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites.
The Flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA’s Cassini space probe and ESA’s Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit, where it stayed from 2004 to 2017.