The U.S. space agency says the international Cassini spacecraft has revealed evidence of water reserves near the surface of one of Saturn’s moons.
NASA Thursday described the find as a rare occurrence that raises “many new questions about the mysterious moon,” Enceladus.
The space agency says the discovery of water, if correct, significantly broadens where in the solar system there might be conditions suitable for living organisms.
It adds that images from Enceladus show evidence of water reserves that erupt in geysers, describing them as “icy jets and towering plumes” that spew large quantities of particles at a high speed.
NASA says the next chance to examine Enceladus will be in early 2008, when Cassini flies within 350 kilometers of its surface.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a joint project of the European Space Agency, NASA and the Italian space agency. It was launched in 1997 to study Saturn, its rings and moons.
– VOA News
