Most oceans in our Solar System lie beneath kilometers of ice on moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn. These subsurface oceans, warmed by tidal forces and shielded from sunlight, could harbor extraterrestrial life. Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, ejects ocean material through geysers (plumes) into space. Cassini's flybys revealed these plumes are salty and contain complex organic molecules, hinting that the moon may support life. Due to these findings, both ESA and NASA have prioritized missions to Enceladus to explore its habitability.
ESA’s future mission aims to sample and analyze the plume's icy particles at high velocities. While instruments like the ExMos chip are being developed to chemically analyze the particles, the method of collecting these samples remains unclear. This project, at TU Delft, will use unique facilities that simulate Enceladus’ plumes to recreate icy grains in conditions similar to those found there. We will study how to effectively sample and analyze these particles, which originate either from the ocean or from water vapor. Developing these techniques is critical to the success of ESA’s L4 mission, which will investigate Enceladus’ potential to support life.
