Enceladus Life Finder: The search for life in a habitable Moon
Enceladus Life Finder: The search for life in a habitable Moon
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DOI：
10.1109/aero.2016.7500813
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发表时间：
2015-03
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
J. Lunine;J. Waite;L. Spilker;F. Postberg;M. Cable;R. Srama;K. Clark;Steven W. Lee
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. Lunine;J. Waite;L. Spilker;F. Postberg;M. Cable;R. Srama;K. Clark;Steven W. Lee
土卫二是太阳系中最有趣的天体之一。除了拥有最明亮和最年轻的表面之一，这颗土星的小卫星最近被发现有一个从其南极地形和全球地下海洋喷发的羽流。卡西尼号使命在羽流中发现了有机物和含氮分子，以及盐和硅酸盐，这强烈表明海水与岩石核心接触。然而，卡西尼号的仪器缺乏足够的分辨率和质量范围来确定这些有机物是否是生物起源。土卫二生命探测器（ELF）是一个发现级的使命，将使用两个最先进的质谱仪来瞄准羽流的气体和颗粒，并在这个外星海洋中寻找生命的证据。
Enceladus is one of the most intriguing bodies in the solar system. In addition to having one of the brightest and youngest surfaces, this small Saturnian moon was recently discovered to have a plume erupting from its south polar terrain and a global subsurface ocean. The Cassini Mission discovered organics and nitrogen-bearing molecules in the plume, as well as salts and silicates that strongly suggest ocean water in contact with a rocky core. However, Cassini's instruments lack sufficient resolution and mass range to determine if these organics are of biotic origin. The Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a Discovery-class mission that would use two state-of-the-art mass spectrometers to target the gas and grains of the plume and search for evidence of life in this alien ocean.