Sniffing the ash of some moon.

That's no plume!

Volcano trifecta in play?

As long as they got that whole "meters and feet" thing nailed down this time....then it may indeed fly through the moon. Or at least the first several feet of it.

Suh-weet!

Although this probably won't be "ash" as we know it on Earth; it'll probably be water ice and maybe some sulfur dioxide.

Beautiful plumage!

/it's stone-dead

Without the moon, the plume cannot exist.

Does not approve.



/not obscure

followmeinfantry: As long as they got that whole "meters and feet" thing nailed down this time....then it may indeed fly through the moon. Or at least the first several feet of it.

you beat me to it.

If they coul build a probe strong enough to collect lunar samples by flying thought the moon itself, i'd say we need to buy some engineers some drinks for a job well done.

Fly me through the moon, and let me play among the stars...

Okay, when and where do the results start appearing? 7:40AM UTC was over 13 hours ago; can we at least get confirmation that the probe is returning data?

I feel like this is missing a, "What could possibly go wrong?"

Flying though a plume of frozen particles with a satellite... it just seems like we're asking to freeze-over some mission critical component.

Satellites have to be constructed to insulate themselves against thermal stress. I just wonder if Cassini can handle a cold blast of whatever...

I Like Bread: Fly me through the moon, and let me play among the stars...

The moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair... am I talking too much?

"All these worlds are yours except Enceladus. Attempt no crash landings there..."

wet_dream: Water not ash and this is what they're talking about...

also, what Enceladus looks like.

Nice.

IXI Jim IXI: "All these worlds are yours except Enceladus. Attempt no crash landings there..."

Also nice.

I like this place.

excellent idea... we'll BLOW UP THE MOON!

Ironclad2: What Enceladus may look like:



Scientists predict numerous plumes of gas in the hours directly following the encounter with Enceladus.


Thanks, I lol'd.

Exclusive footage of the approach (new window,SFW)

overzelus: I feel like this is missing a, "What could possibly go wrong?"

Flying though a plume of frozen particles with a satellite... it just seems like we're asking to freeze-over some mission critical component.

Satellites have to be constructed to insulate themselves against thermal stress. I just wonder if Cassini can handle a cold blast of whatever...

Uh you do know that is probe is already flying through space right? Space is pretty cold. I do not think a blast of ice will affect too much in regards to temperature. I would be more worried about the ash attaching itself to the satellite and mucking up any equipment on board.

I guarantee you that, if the probe collides with any "frozen particles" at orbital velocities, they won't stay "cold" for long. At those energies, a starting temperature a few hundred degrees hotter or colder is completely irrelevant.

CrankMyBlueSax: Without the moon, the plume cannot exist.

Instead, only try to remember the truth. There is no plume.

Cassini to sample Enceladus' gas?