Nasa announces one of Saturn's moons could support alien life in our solar system

i heard on the news last night that NASA was going to announce that they found some sort of life on another planet. yep, the actual news on television..

i imagine its not going to be little green men with ray guns and flying saucers but it sounds like the found something

a reply to: seasonal

Nasa is getting close and closer to saying it. There is life in our solar system other than earth. The slow drip of truth continues.

Or it is not the truth and they only want you to think it is.

originally posted by: ChipForBrains
a reply to: seasonal

Nasa is getting close and closer to saying it. There is life in our solar system other than earth. The slow drip of truth continues.

Or it is not the truth and they only want you to think it is.

Or it's exactly what it says on the tin - NASA (along with other space agencies and scientific organisations) are making baby steps in exploring and studying the Solar System, and finding all those potentially habitable places you read about in the news.

If NASA got the kind of budget DoD gets, we'd be already walking on Mars and maybe fishing for shrimp in Europa's and Enceladus' oceans.

a reply to: wildespace

Or the whole thing is a joke. It is a matter of faith, obviously.

"Could" support life, is what they tell us everytime. It's totally meaningless. Report back when you found some.

a reply to: ChipForBrains

Do you think there is not life, in any form anywhere else?

I think the trickle will continue. It will be bacteria or some other microscopic thing that will be allowed to be acknowledged by NASA.

a reply to: seasonal

Not in the place above our heads where the pretty lights circle.

I don't doubt that this trickle will continue though.

originally posted by: abe froman
They announced the same thing back in September.

Why are they re-iterating it 7 months later with more fanfare ?

Nov. 9, 2009
Successful Flight Through Enceladus Plume
www.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: ChipForBrains
a reply to: seasonal

Not in the place above our heads where the pretty lights circle.

I don't doubt that this trickle will continue though.

Really you think there is no life in space? There are atmospheres and oxygen and water even on some of these "moons.
Personally I think they look to be artificial and living spaces, water storage outside camouflages them for safety at the same time.

By most predictions prior to Cassini's arrival at Saturn, a moon the size of Enceladus (313 miles, 504 kilometers across) would have been expected to be a dead, frozen world. But Enceladus displays remarkable geologic activity, as evidenced by the plume emanating from its southern polar regions and its global, subsurface ocean. (For a closer look at individual jets that contribute to the plume, see PIA11688; for more on the subsurface ocean see PIA19656.) The plume, which was discovered in Cassini images, is comprised mostly of water vapor and contain entrained dust particles.
After revealing Enceladus' surprising geologic activity in 2005, Cassini made a series of discoveries about the material gushing from warm fractures near its south pole. Scientists announced strong evidence for a regional subsurface sea in 2014, revising their understanding in 2015 to confirm that the moon hosts a global ocean beneath its icy crust.
www.nasa.gov...

a reply to: SeaWorthy

So this happened in 2009?

a reply to: SeaWorthy

Really you think there is no life in space?

I think there is no space in life.

a reply to: seasonal
Probably safe for NASA to say that they found non intelligent life on a planet far away.
The mil gov has probably approved that as a good introduction.
I think all life has intelligence, but not all is interactive with humans.

originally posted by: ChipForBrains
a reply to: SeaWorthy

Really you think there is no life in space?

I think there is no space in life.

Cassini has been there since 2004 I figure they have been really busy with stuff they don't share.
How about this "moon" Atlas

And this Pan

www.nasa.gov...

a reply to: seasonal

So when and where did NASA announce that "one of Saturn's moons could support alien life in our solar system"?

The samples the space craft took showed hydrogen that means hydrothermic reactions.

When and where did NASA publish this?


edit,

www.nasa.gov...

a reply to: SeaWorthy

What about it, cool pics, cool story.

Ever been there?

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: seasonal

This is absolutely STUNNING, on so many levels!

1. A little moon has enough oxygen to support life?

Why not and assumes....next question

2. Maybe "life" doesn't need oxygen?

It doesn't! We have life here on earth that does not need oxygen

3. Why didn't Cassini "short-out" when it flew through the geyser?

Why would it. Unless you have the image of Old Faithful in space. Does a cloud look like a cloud when you are in it ? Trust me there are far far more deadly things in space that will destroy equipment than a few molecules of di-hydrogen monoxide.

4. Can it fly around and lower? Maybe it might catch a fish for autopsy..

Yes if designed to do so. I haven't checked. Doubt a fish would be propelled through a crack in the surface of the moon to reach space. Bacteria maybe. Even fish would require a quite sophisticated food chain and a considerable amount of available energy, so highly unlikely unless the moon has a hot core.

originally posted by: ChipForBrains
a reply to: seasonal

So when and where did NASA announce that "one of Saturn's moons could support alien life in our solar system"?

The samples the space craft took showed hydrogen that means hydrothermic reactions.

When and where did NASA publish this?
edit,
www.nasa.gov...

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

The paper from researchers with the Cassini mission, published in the journal Science, indicates hydrogen gas, which could potentially provide a chemical energy source for life, is pouring into the subsurface ocean of Enceladus from hydrothermal activity on the seafloor.

They found hydrogen? That's amazing......

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe

en.wikipedia.org...

originally posted by: abe froman
They announced the same thing back in September.

Why are they re-iterating it 7 months later with more fanfare ?

NASA has been talking about Enceladus having a habitable ocean for almost 10 years now.

Here's a thread I made more than 9 years ago (March of 2008) that discusses Cassini analyzing the water from the geysers of Encaldus and the discovery of organic molecules in that water -- which comes the Oceans of Enceladus -- and the potential for those oceans to be relatively warm oases for life to thrive:


Thread from March 2008 about Enceladus Organic Material


March 2008 NASA Article
[new link to replace dead link in old thread]


Excerpt from 2008 NASA article:

NASA's Cassini spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn's moon Enceladus during a close flyby on March 12. Scientists are amazed that this tiny moon is so active, "hot" and brimming with water vapor and organic chemical...

..."Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life," said Dennis Matson, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We have quite a recipe for life on our hands, but we have yet to find the final ingredient, liquid water, but Enceladus is only whetting our appetites for more."

Another 2008 NASA article about the potential for life on Enceladus:

A Perspective on Life on Enceladus: A World of Possibilities

Could microbial life exist inside Enceladus, where no sunlight reaches, photosynthesis is impossible and no oxygen is available? To answer that question, we need look no farther than our own planet to find examples of the types of exotic ecosystems that could make life possible on Saturn's geyser moon. The answer appears to be, yes, it could be possible. It is this tantalizing potential that brings us back to Enceladus for further study.

originally posted by: ChipForBrains

The paper from researchers with the Cassini mission, published in the journal Science, indicates hydrogen gas, which could potentially provide a chemical energy source for life, is pouring into the subsurface ocean of Enceladus from hydrothermal activity on the seafloor.

They found hydrogen? That's amazing......

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe

en.wikipedia.org...

The molecular hydrogen (i.e., hydrogen not already bound together with other elements) is meaningful because it would by a source of energy for metabolism. Such a chemical energy source could be used in metabolic chemical reactions necessary for life as we know it.

It is thought early earth life used a chemical reaction of hydrogen (again, molecular or "free" hydrogen) and carbon dioxide dissolved in water that resulted in metabolic energy being release in a process known as "methaogenesis". Methanogenesis is also hypothesized to have brought about lifer on Earth in the first place.


They obviously already knew there was hydrogen there in some form, because they had already confirmed the existence of a water ocean on Enceladus more than ten years ago -- and water has hydrogen. but the point here is the molecular hydrogen. The discovery of the free molecular hydrogen -- along with the water and carbon dioxide that is there -- indicates that Enceladus has the ingredients for life to thrive.

It's ocean might be 10km deep in some places. Compared to earths average 3-4km deep ocean one can't help but wonder kind of life would evolve and live in an ocean that deep.

Gravimetric data from Cassini's December 2010 flybys showed that Enceladus likely has a liquid water ocean beneath its frozen surface, but at the time it was thought the subsurface ocean was limited to the south pole.[23][24][25][68] The top of the ocean proabably lies beneath a 30 to 40 kilometers (19 to 25 mi) thick ice shelf. The ocean may be 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) deep at the south pole.[23][69]

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