Enceladus' Water Plumes Spark Possibility of Life in Our Solar System

Saturn's moon Enceladus has the potential for extraterrestrial life due to the salty ocean located under the thick icy crust. The James Webb Space Telescope recently recorded a 10,000-kilometer-long plume of water vapor spraying from the surface, the largest spray recorded from Enceladus. Organic molecules such as methane, formaldehyde, and hydrogen have been observed in these plumes, which are molecules that could provide energy for microbes. The Enceladus OrbiLander, a proposed NASA space mission, would orbit Enceladus and land on the moon to collect data.