The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid spacecraft, which lifted off on July 1 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, will attempt to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the universe. In particular, it will help infer the properties of dark energy and dark matter which have mystified astronomers for decades.
Scientists found that ice grains on Saturn’s satellite Enceladus contain a rich array of minerals and organic compounds — including the ingredients for amino acids associated with life. The Cassini spacecraft, which explored Saturn and its system of rings and moons for over 13 years, from 2004 to 2017, discovered Enceladus’ subsurface liquid water. They analysed samples in a plume of ice grains and gases erupting into space from cracks in the moon’s icy surface.
