Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon, covered in blue-white ice.

[Solarion]

From Wikipedia:

Enceladus (pronounced /ɛnˈsɛlədəs/) is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn. It is approximately 500 kilometers (310 mi) in diameter,[3] about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, reflecting almost all the sunlight that strikes it, making its surface temperature at noon reach only −198 °C (−324.4 °F). Despite its small size, Enceladus has a wide range of surface features, ranging from old, heavily cratered regions to young, tectonically deformed terrains that formed as recently as 100 million years ago.

In 2005, the Cassini spacecraft started multiple close flybys of Enceladus, revealing its surface and environment in greater detail. In particular, Cassini discovered water-rich plumes venting from the south polar region.[16] Cryovolcanoes near the south pole shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor, other volatiles, and solid material, including sodium chloride crystals and ice particles, into space, totaling approximately 200 kilograms (440 lb) per second. Over 100 geysers have been identified.

Cassini has provided strong evidence that Enceladus has an ocean with an energy source, nutrients and organic molecules, making Enceladus one of the best places for the study of potentially habitable environments for extraterrestrial life. By contrast, the water thought to be on Jupiter's moon Europa is located under a much thicker layer of ice.

Preventing planetary biological contamination

Planetary protection is a guiding principle in the design of an interplanetary mission, aiming to prevent biological contamination of both the target celestial body and the Earth. Planetary protection reflects both the unknown nature of the space environment and the desire of the scientific community to preserve the pristine nature of celestial bodies until they can be studied in detail.[2][3]

There are two types of interplanetary contamination. Forward contamination is the transfer of viable organisms from Earth to another celestial body. A major goal of planetary protection is to preserve the planetary record of natural processes by preventing introduction of Earth-originated life. Back contamination is the transfer of extraterrestrial organisms, if such exist, back to the Earth's biosphere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Cool!

 

[Ockie]

Cool .... very interesting. We can have this, as long as we dont consider Europa.