NASA announced that its Saturn spacecraft, Cassini, has begun its series of close flybys of the planet's large, icy moon Enceladus on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
The American space agency said it expects to receive new images from the space probe within the next two days following the flybys, which will provide the first detailed view of the natural satellite's north polar region.
The scheduled close encounter of Cassini with Enceladus will involve having the spacecraft pass by Saturn's moon at 1,142 miles high above its surface. The space probe will carry out its final two flybys of the satellite in late October and December.
Cassini's attempts to capture images of Enceladus' norther terrain during earlier missions were unsuccessful because the region was covered in wintry darkness.
With the sun now providing enough lighting on the moon's northern latitudes, NASA researchers have the opportunity to examine potential evidence of past geological activity, such as the geyser-producing fractures found in Enceladus' south polar region.
Agency scientists believe structures observed during Cassini's approach could help determine whether Enceladus' northern region was also active geologically at one point in the moon's history.
"We've been following a trail of clues on Enceladus for 10 years now," Bonnie Buratti, an icy moon expert and member of the Cassini science team, said.
NASA experts have long been interested in studying Enceladus as a potential location for modern-day habitable environments since they first observed icy fountains continually erupting from its surface in 2005.
In March, members of the Cassini team revealed evidence that hydrothermal activity could be found in Enceladus's underground ocean. They later reported that the moon's ocean, which was initially believed to be a regional sea, was indeed a global body of water.
"The amount of activity on and beneath this moon's surface has been a huge surprise to us. We're still trying to figure out what its history has been, and how it came to be this way," Buratti added.
Cassini's second approach of Saturn's moon on Oct 28 will have the space probe come 30 miles close to Enceladus' south polar region to capture images and collect additional data on its icy plumes.
Researchers are hopeful that the encounter will provide them with evidence of the amount of hydrothermal activity occurring in the subterranean ocean of Enceladus and how it affects the moon's habitability.
