In 2009, the robotic interplanetary station Cassini made its last flyby past Enceladus, an amazing satellite of the gas giant Saturn.
At the same time, the spacecraft made a unique maneuver and, at an altitude of three tens of kilometers, literally flew into a jet of emissions from an ice volcano. With the beginning of the study of the probe "Cassini" in the Saturn system, it became quite clear that Enceladus has an unusual device and is fraught with much more mysteries than previously thought.
The main thing turned out to be that the chemical analyzers of space dust detected potassium and sodium salts. Huge amounts of these substances, well known to us from ordinary sea salt, were contained not so much in the geyser gas itself as in ice crystals floating in space.
This is how decisive evidence of the existence of a real subglacial ocean at the satellite of Saturn appeared. Further deciphering of the temperature data revealed that in the cracks of the giant ice ridges of Enceladus, the temperature rises to -85 ° C, compared to the 200-degree frost on the surface.
When in 2005 the Cassini probe reached the system of the ringed gas giant (the second largest after Jupiter) and began to explore its satellites, no one expected sensations from a huge blinding white snowball, inferior in parameters to many satellites in the solar system.
Soon, however, NASA employees from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were amazed to find mysterious parallel cracks "scratched" on the icy surface of the planetoid. From these strange formations, called "tiger stripes", powerful gas-ice fountains erupted to a height of 500 kilometers, comparable to the diameter of Enceladus itself.
When the ice geysers of Enceladus were discovered, it was a complete surprise for planetary scientists, because volcanic activity on a satellite with a diameter of only half a thousand kilometers contradicts the theory. According to all calculations, such a small planetoid should have cooled down and freeze to the deepest depths long ago.
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Today, versions are being built that the liquid ocean under the ice shell of the satellite arose due to the gravitational effect of Saturn. In theory, tidal waves from the gas giant should constantly deform the satellite. At the same time, conditions for the emergence of extraterrestrial life forms could arise in the depths of Enceladus heated by the tides.
Living in cold darkness
According to calculations, at the South Pole, under the ice crust of Enceladus at a depth of 15-20 kilometers, there should be a particularly deep and highly carbonated ocean of mineral liquid. The temperature of its upper layers can be about -45 ° С and, with increasing depth, reach 0 … + 1 ° С, which is comparable to the temperature of the earth's Arctic and Antarctic waters. It is possible that the taste of "mineral waters" of Enceladus will somewhat resemble the World Ocean of the Earth.
All these discoveries bring to mind the reconstructions of the under-ice worlds of the satellites of the gas giants, made by the remarkable science fiction writer Arthur Clarke in the epic "Odyssey". According to Clarke, unlike the Earth's seas of the Paleozoic era, the hidden oceans of the gas giant satellites are not a calm, stable environment, and therefore evolution proceeded here very quickly, creating a huge variety of fantastic forms.
And over all these oases of life, the threat of imminent death hung constantly. After all, sooner or later the source of life weakened and dried up as the channels feeding it moved to another place. These ocean depths should simply be littered with evidence of such tragedies - whole cemeteries of skeletons and remains overgrown with mineral sediments …
The history of the under-ice world of some moons seems to Clark similar to the ancient history of Egypt, long before the appearance of man. Just as the Nile brought life to a narrow strip of the adjacent desert, so these rivers of warmth revived the sea depths of distant worlds. Along their shores, countless forms of life have arisen, developed and died.
In these narrow bands of abundance, stretching across the deserts of the abyss, primitive civilizations and entire cultures could develop and die. And the surrounding world would have no idea about these civilizations, because the oases of heat would be separated from each other, like distant planets.
The creatures basking in the warmth of the lava flows and feeding on the substances that flowed from the holes leading into the bowels of the planetoids could not cross the hostile desert that separates their lonely islands. If there were historians and philosophers among them, each of these cultures would be convinced that it is the only one and unique in the entire universe.
The pictures drawn by the great science fiction writer largely correspond to the real areas of flora and fauna, hiding in the depths of the Earth's oceans. It only requires some additional evolutionary factor, since deep-sea hydrothermal vents on Earth have not spawned intelligent creatures. Here, the decisive role can be played by giant tidal currents and waves caused by the gravity of gas gigs.
It is in the course of such an intensive mixing of under-ice liquid masses that an additional factor may arise that accelerates the evolution of aliens and brings them on the path to reason.
While the moons of the gas giants may have a variety of internal sources of heat, there would never have been earthly life based on solar energy in their depths.
That is why life in the dark depths of Enceladus would have to cluster near hydrothermal vents, or unknown creatures could cling to the bottom of the ice dome like algae and bacteria in the polar regions of the Earth.
Ship planetoid
American ufologist Scott Waring recently struck everyone with a paradoxical thought: Enceladus could turn out to be a huge spaceship …
This unusual idea arose from the famous researcher of the paradoxes of UFOs and NCOs (unidentified space objects) after a detailed study of all photographic materials about the ice satellite of the gas giant. Naturally, the scientist's statement, widely voiced at several symposia dedicated to the results of the Cassini mission, and subsequent press conferences, was extremely negatively perceived in the leadership of NASA.
The key photographs, which clearly show cyclopean emissions in the polar regions, are unambiguously explained by experts by natural processes of under-ice volcanism, and not by the operation of the engines of the colossal space "ark-planetoid".
Nevertheless, Dr. Waring continues to insist on his extraordinary conclusions and even tries to argue that NASA is once again trying to hide the truth from the world community. As the decisive arguments, the American ufologist cites his own calculations, according to which the non-targeted action of the under-ice geysers would inevitably make the moon rotate randomly in different directions.
Meanwhile, observations show that Enceladus always faces Saturn with the same side. On the other hand, the maximum magnification of the images allows us to see that the plume of volcanic emissions looks more like traces from some giant jet engine stabilizing the position of the planetoid.
The latest version of the ufologist concerns the size of the satellite, endowing it with the functions of a ship-ark, on which the remnants of an extraterrestrial civilization arrived in the solar system from a planet that suffered from some monstrous cosmic cataclysm. Waring believes that this could be the transformation of an alien star from a yellow dwarf into a red giant, a nearby supernova, or a meeting with a wandering black hole.
By the way, the ideas of this ufologist are far from original. So, back in the 50s of the past century, the outstanding Soviet astronomer Joseph Shklovsky seriously considered the hypothesis of the artificial origin of the satellites of Mars. And in the 1990s, ideas appeared about the artificial structure of our Moon.
In a low gravity world
Be that as it may, but the paradoxical hypotheses of Waring and his few supporters brought back long-standing discussions about the future colonization of relatively large satellites of gas and ice (Uranus and Neptune) giants. True, the plans for the colonization of Enceladus should also take into account the relatively low force of gravity, which in the long term can create significant problems for the first colonists.
The only way out in this position can be special barometric suits and intense physical activity. Generally speaking, space medicine does not even know how a long-term stay in a world with low gravity can affect the human body, because all the knowledge about this issue is collected in a state of complete weightlessness of orbital flights.
Meanwhile, the question of the future colonization of the systems of gas and ice giants in the distant future will become extremely important. Indeed, after a few billion years our star, which today represents a yellow dwarf star, will turn into a red giant.
In this case, the edge of the Sun will approach the orbit of Venus, and any life on the inner worlds of the Solar system from Mercury to Earth will become completely impossible. The only way of salvation for mankind will be mass migration to the "cool" satellites of the giant planets.
Oleg FAYG