One of The Key Components of Life Has Been Detected on Enceladus’s Surface

According to the findings of NASA, many elements needed for life are present on Enceladus; Saturn’s 6th largest moon.

The Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn for over two decades. In 2015 it was found that 0.4 to 1.4 percent of the plumes jet constituents which erupted from Enceladus’s icy core contained hydrogen.

This discovery was published on Science on April 14th 2017.

Scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) believe that this finding may indicate that Enceladus may contain hydrothermal vents deep within it’s surface.

The combined knowledge of Enceladus’s salty ocean and the discovery of hydrogen is leading scientists to speculate the possibility of extremophiles being present on this moon.

Extremophiles survive by using the chemical energy that is derived from the spewing contents that come from hydrothermal vents. So far, the Cassini spacecraft has not identified any extremophiles on Enceladus; however, this does not rule out the possibility that they are inhabitants.

“We’re pretty darn sure that the internal ocean of Enceladus is habitable and we need to go back and investigate it further,” says Hunter Waite, study co-author, and Cassini scientist.