Nearly 40 years ago, on 20 August 1977, the Voyager 2 space probe was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to study the Solar System's four outermost planets. It was followed 15 days later by the launch of an identical spacecraft, Voyager 1. The Voyager spacecraft -Image from NASA Although Voyager 1 was… Continue reading Voyager 40th anniversary
Tag: Saturn
Planet Saturn
Enceladus Flyby 28 Oct 2015
On 28 October 2015 the space probe Cassini, which has been orbiting Saturn for the last 10 years, will pass within 50 km of the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. This is an extremely close approach by an interplanetary spacecraft (by comparison the New Horizons mission only got as close as 12,500 km above the surface of Pluto) and… Continue reading Enceladus Flyby 28 Oct 2015
How Would We Get to Enceladus ?
Introduction Welcome to the third post from the Science Geek. This post continues my previous two posts and discusses how we might get to Saturn's moon Enceladus, which many scientists now believe is the most likely place in the solar system, other than the Earth, to harbour life. Image from NASA Types of… Continue reading How Would We Get to Enceladus ?
Enceladus what kind of life ?
As stated in my previous post NASA's Cassini probe has shown that Saturn's moon Enceladus not only has an thin atmosphere, but that volcanoes of water are erupting from its surface into space. Even more remarkable has been its discovery, that these volcanoes contain the raw chemicals which are the building blocks for life. Image from NASA The question which really… Continue reading Enceladus what kind of life ?
Enceladus -Could there be life?
Welcome Hello and welcome to the first post from the Science Geek. I intend to write a weekly blog about various topics of interest, which will cover all aspects of science. The articles will be aimed at the non scientist and won't require any previous scientific knowledge. I hope you enjoy reading them and please feel… Continue reading Enceladus -Could there be life?
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