TEDBlog

« Four TEDsters named 2008 Young Global Leaders by WEF | Main | Stroke of insight: Jill Bolte Taylor on TED.com »

12 March 2008

Cassini buzzes Enceladus today, closer than ever

CassiniEnceladus.jpg

The Cassini mission to Saturn (see Carolyn Porco's stunning TEDTalk on this mission) today makes its closest flyby yet of Enceladus, a geologically active moon. With its frozen surface and plumes of ice, Enceladus is a fascinating body, and the Cassini probe will be imaging the moon in several areas with many different instruments. From the mission notes:

At 17:40:12 UTC ... UVIS will scan across the disk of Enceladus to measure the ultraviolet albedo of the surface and look for oxygen in the environment around Enceladus which may have dissociated from water molecules in the plumes.

The Cassini probe is set to pass through one of Enceladus' ice plumes as it passes closest to the surface of the moon -- flying by at about 70 km, or 50 miles up.

Technorati tags:

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.ted.com/cgi-bin/mte/mt-tb.cgi/3365

Discuss Blog Post


    Tools for TED.com

    Find out more about -- and download -- the handy TED Miro player >>
    As we complete transcripts, we share them here >>
    Subscribe to the TED Blog's RSS feed >>
    Join the TEDTalks official Facebook Group >>
    Download TED and Ideo's Big Questions widget >> Get TEDTalks updates via Twitter >>

    Tips? Comments? contact (at) ted (dot) com


    Get involved: TED Prize wishes

    Once Upon a School

    Meet the Greens

    Next Einstein

    InSTEDD

    Open Architecture Network

    Encyclopedia of Life

    Pangea Day

    TED Bloggers

    Chris Anderson | Curator
    June Cohen | Director of TED Media
    Amy Novogratz | TED Prize Director
    Tom Rielly | Humorist
    Bruno Giussani | TED European Director
    Jason Wishnow | Director, Film + Video
    Emily McManus | Editor, TED.com
    Matthew Trost | Editorial Assistant, TED.com

    Blogs we watch

    >> TEDPrize.org | Updates on the 2008 TED Prize winners and wishes:
    Dave Eggers' wish blog
    Karen Armstrong's wish blog
    Neil Turok's wish blog

    >> Thomas Dolby | TED Musical Director, blogging at ThomasDolby.com
    >> Bruno Giussani | TED European Director, blogging at LunchOverIP.com
    >> Emeka Okafor | TEDAfrica Director, blogging at Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained

    by topic

    Archives

    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

    Powered by Movable Type

    What we blog about