Aqueous Enceladus

With the revelation that streams of water ejected from the Saturnian moon Enceladus may arise from subsurface liquid water, the space science crowd is abuzz with excitement about the possibility of life on this frosted novelty moon. It seems to me that if there is aqueous life under the surface of Enceladus, then some of it should have been blown ejected above the surface by these geysers. In fact, a few of the hapless critters may be lying about on the surface this very moment wearing an expression of shock and dismay on their frozen xenomorphic faces. How embarrassing for them.

The three cosmic damp spots- Earth, Europa, and Enceladus. I wonder how long it will take for a lander proposal to get serious evaluation? Life on Enceladus is as likely to resemble a microbial mat as anything.  A lander would have to consider microscopic examination of samples.

1 thought on “Aqueous Enceladus

  1. Uncle Al

    Nah – all one needs is a polarimeter (biological homochirality) and some Cu(ClO4)2 (Cotton effect) for amino acids. It’s so simple and unambiguous it is absolutely out of the question. Send a mobile electron microscopy lab in a 40,000-lb lander. NASA will reinvent the RV the way it reinvented the Keyhole spy satellite (Hubble telescope – manager-driven innovation was having it point the other way. Shaping the mirror was petty cash).

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