The Cassini mission to Saturn has been an extraordinary scientific success. One of its major accomplishments has been to focus on Saturn's moon Enceladus as a possible home to life. Recent research may bolster that possibility.
Cassini established geysers erupt from the southern polar regions of Enceladus. Later work suggested water vapor was in the geysers, which meshed with the theory that an ocean of water existed under the small moon's icy surface. An interior heat source strong enough to keep such an ocean liquid, plus the water itself, raised the possobility of life.
New work by JPL's Candace Hansen might have taken that argument one step further. Hansen and her team think they have found not just water vapor but actual liquid water molecules in the geysers' plumes. If true, that strengthens the case for the ocean.
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