Saturn Moon Has Water Geysers and, Just Maybe, Life

Once-wet Mars has long been the primary focus of the search for life on other planets. But Saturn’s moon Enceladus could be an even more promising place to start the search for extraterrestrials. Startling new images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft indicate that Enceladus may contain pockets of liquid water below its icy crust.
These pockets, described in an article published today in the journal Science, may be ideal habitats for life-forms similar to those found in hydrothermal vents beneath the Earth’s oceans.
“This is extraordinary,” said Carolyn Porco, a Cassini team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado and primary author of the new study.
“I think our results are significant enough to redirect the planetary exploration program, placing Enceladus as the primary target of astrobiological interest in our solar system.”