Rev 61 Enceladus (March 12 2008) Options

[Holder of the Tw...]

The mission description PDF is now online.

Enceladus 3 Flyby

[Juramike]

CICLOPS article on Enceladus' plume: http://ciclops.org

Composition of plumes compared to comets: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10357


And the INMS spectrum showing simple and "complex" organics (their definition of "complex" is very different than mine - we're not talking teterodotoxin here): http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10356


(Dalton = amu; benzene is about m.w. 78)

From CICLOPS cpcomments:
"Also, it is now unambiguous that the jets emerging from the south polar
fractures contain organic materials heavier than simple methane --
acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, propane, etc."

-Mike

[rlorenz]

From CICLOPS cpcomments:
"Also, it is now unambiguous that the jets emerging from the south polar
fractures contain organic materials heavier than simple methane --
acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, propane, etc."

-Mike

As sparkling water goes, I am not sure I'd like the taste of this....

Ciclops' unsurprising gushing (!) notwithstanding, there are a few people
(e.g. Veronique Vuitton at the Titan Chemistry workshop here in Miami
http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/Bil301/Titan2007.html )
noting that some attention should be paid to possible chemistry on the
surfaces of the INMS instrument itself (e.g. during Titan flybys, benzene or
Phenyl (C6H5), cant remember which, peaks AFTER closest approach). In
other words could these 'Enceladus' organics be reaction products of
Enceladus water with Titan gunk on the inside of the instrument?

I personally doubt it, but wanted to note that 'unambiguous' is a
pretty heavy duty word for what may be a rather complex situation.

I guess I won't complain too much if a Titan Flagship does a little bit
of Enceladus science on the way, though. Looks not entirely uninteresting....

[JRehling]

could these 'Enceladus' organics be reaction products of
Enceladus water with Titan gunk on the inside of the instrument?

Panspermia in action. "Attack of the Saturn Beasties" sure to follow.

"Hey, you got your smog in my geyser."