Enceladus' Ocean Holds Key Building Block for Life

NASA's Cassini mission has discovered phosphorus, a key chemical element for life, in icy grains emitted from Saturn's moon, Enceladus. The discovery hints at the potential for life-supporting conditions in Enceladus' subsurface ocean and possibly other icy ocean worlds. Enceladus is known to possess a subsurface ocean, and water from that ocean erupts through cracks in Enceladus' icy crust as geysers at its south pole, creating a plume. The plume then feeds Saturn's E ring with icy particles. The discovery of phosphorus, a building block for DNA and energy-carrying molecules, is a significant step towards understanding the habitability potential of other icy ocean worlds throughout the solar system.