dv said:
http://www.space.com/30931-saturn-moon-enceladus-flyby-cassini.html
Scientists are about to get their best look ever at the ocean that sloshes beneath the surface of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus.
On Wednesday (Oct. 28), NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will zoom just 30 miles (50 kilometers) above Enceladus, flying through and sampling the plume of material that erupts from the satellite’s south polar region.
This plume is thought to originate from Enceladus’ underground liquid-water ocean, so Cassini’s onboard sample analysis should shed light on the moon’s potential to host life, mission team members said.
> On Wednesday (Oct. 28), NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will zoom just 30 miles (50 kilometers) above Enceladus, flying through and sampling the plume of material that erupts from its south polar region.
50 km, that’s dangerously close. You will see that differs from Cassini’s recent close flyby of Enceladus which went past its north polar region. (I wonder how close that one was.)
Here we go, from http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturntourdates/
Oct. 14 – Enceladus flyby (1,142 miles, or 1,839 kilometers) – E-20
During this flyby, Cassini will image the north polar regions of Enceladus — something not possible in the first years of the mission, when the moon’s north was in darkness. Scientists are eager to search for indications of whether the north polar region might have been geophysically active at some time in the past. There are also two plume observations designed to allow scientists to better understand the connection of specific jets to surface hot spots, and to search for variability in the plumes.
Oct. 28 – Enceladus flyby (30 miles, or 49 kilometers) – E-21
This daring flyby will bring the spacecraft within 30 miles (48 kilometers) of Enceladus’ south pole. The flyby is timed to occur when the moon’s plumes are at their maximum output — a first for the mission. This will allow Cassini to obtain the most accurate measurements yet of the plume’s composition.
Nov. 13 – Titan flyby (7,407 miles, or 11,920 kilometers) – T-114
Near closest approach, Cassini’s imaging cameras will acquire a medium-to-high-resolution mosaic of Titan’s leading hemisphere over Xanadu. Other observations on this flyby include VIMS’ monitoring of the formation and evolution of clouds at high latitudes and the evolution of south polar vortex. VIMS will map the north pole area at high emission angles, and will monitor the evolution of the lakes and seas. CIRS will perform very high-latitude limb sounding over the south pole, monitoring the temperatures and composition in the south polar vortex as it continues to develop in southern fall. The latitudes viewed during this flyby are the most southerly latitudes possible for far-infrared limb measurements during this phase of the Cassini mission.
Dec. 6 – Protective measures to ensure safe passage through an area of increased ring particle concentration. Cassini will be turned so that its high gain antenna can be used like umbrella to shield the spacecraft from impacts by ring particles.
Dec. 19 – Enceladus flyby (3,106 miles, or 4,999 kilometers) – E-22
This will be the last targeted Enceladus flyby of the mission. The CIRS instrument will observe the moon’s south polar terrain. By the time the mission concludes on 2017, Cassini will have obtained observations over six years of winter darkness in the moon’s southern hemisphere. These are ideal conditions for improving measurements of heat flow from the interior to the surface. Understanding heat flow is important because it provides key information on what is driving the geysers.