NASA Live - Earth From Space LIVE Feed | Incredible ISS live stream of Earth from space
this week, nasa announced some exciting
new findings about oceans beyond Earth.The gist: The space agency has found the most compelling evidence yet that the ocean underneath the icy crust of Enceladus, Saturns sixth-largest moon, could contain life. In the past, the Cassini spacecraft has observed jets of water containing organic chemicals streaming from Enceladus. This latest finding adds a key ingredient for life to the mix: hydrogen. The presence of hydrogen in the jets makes NASA scientists suspect there are geothermal geysers on Enceladuss ocean floor. Like the geothermal vents deep within Earths oceans, these could be home to microbes that use the chemical energy of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce methane and energy for life. (Also today, NASA announced it has collected more (not-yet-conclusive) evidence that there are also water vapor plumes emanating from Europa, Jupiters icy moon. )
The announcement streamed live on NASA TV on April 13, but you can watch the replay right here.
In the last leg of its life, Cassini keeps generating fascinating insightsThe Cassini mission is at the end of an impressive 20-year run. In its final days, the spacecraft has been churning out intriguing discoveries. Todays announcement adds one more to the list.
In 2004, Cassini became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. In its explorations of the planets magnetosphere and various moons, it has found evidence of an underground ocean on Enceladus. On the moon Titan, it revealed surprisingly Earthlike geographic features and great lakes of liquid natural gas on its surface that outweigh all the oil and gas reserves on Earth. It learned how new moons could form out of Saturns rings. And it has taken detailed, beautiful photographic surveys of the planets rings and surface features.
Now its beginning a series of harrowing orbits that bring it into the space between the planet and its rings a region no spacecraft has been before. When Cassini is in the inner rings, it will finally be able to take the measurements that will aid in calculations to determine the mass of the rings.
Come September, the 20-year-old spacecraft will crash into Saturn, having spent all of its fuel. But the death dive isnt just for fireworks. If Cassini doesnt plunge into Saturns atmosphere, it runs the risk of potentially contaminating one of the planets moons with debris and microbes from Earth.
Cassinis dramatic finale is also a last chance to squeeze some more insights out of the 20-year-old spacecraft. As the craft descends into Saturns atmosphere, several of the instruments will be on, including the mass spectrometer, Preston Dyches, a NASA spokesperson says. This instrument essentially can sniff the atmosphere and determine the chemical compounds its composed of.
When Cassini finally goes offline in September, it will die doing what its been doing all along: exploring.
Source: http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/4/13/15288648/nasa-announcement-ocean-worlds-live-stream
