NASA HISTORY: Cassini Flies By Saturn’s Ice-Covered Moon Enceladus

By  //  March 12, 2016

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On this day (March 12) in 2008, the Cassini probe flew by Enceladus, the ice-covered moon of Saturn. (NASA Image)

On this day (March 12) in 2008, the Cassini probe flew by Enceladus, the ice-covered moon of Saturn.

Launched October 15, 1997, Cassini-Huygens has been active for more than 18 years, and its expected mission termination is sometime in 2017.

The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe separated from the orbiter and reached Saturn’s moon Titan on January 14, 2005, making it the first successful landing in the outer solar system.

In 2014, Cassini found evidence at Enceladus for a large south polar subsurface ocean of liquid water with a thickness of around 6.2 miles.

In this area, cryovolcanoes shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor, other volatiles, and solid material into the atmosphere at a rate of 440 lb per second.