Enceladus Life Finder

Voyager 2 view of Enceladus in 1981: Samarkand Sulci vertical grooves (lower center); Ali Baba and Aladdin craters (upper left)

Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a proposed astrobiology mission concept for a NASA spacecraft intended to assess the habitability of the internal aquatic ocean of Enceladus, which is Saturn's sixth-largest moon[1][2] of at least 146 total moons, and seemingly similar in chemical makeup to comets.[3] The spaceprobe would orbit Saturn and fly through Enceladus's geyser-like plumes multiple times. It would be powered by energy supplied from solar panels on the spacecraft.

  1. ^ Lunine, Jonathan I.; Waite, Jack Hunter Jr.; Postberg, Frank; Spilker, Linda J. (2015). Enceladus Life Finder: The search for life in a habitable moon (PDF). 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2015). Houston (TX): Lunar and Planetary Institute.
  2. ^ Clark, Stephen (April 6, 2015). "Diverse destinations considered for new interplanetary probe". Space Flight Now. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  3. ^ Battersby, Stephen (March 26, 2008). "Saturn's moon Enceladus surprisingly comet-like". New Scientist. Retrieved April 16, 2015.