Year: 2015-16
Target: Rings and Moons
"Space travel is a necessary step into revealing the inner works of the universe or expanding the Earth's sagacity of the world beyond, and most interestingly, to question the existence of extraterrestrial creatures. There are many indicators that the moons of Rhea and Tethys could possibly sustain life due to their abundance of water and milieu of oxygen that envelops Rhea. These will yield more essential and intriguing findings and thus, remain the most viable option for the field of astronomy.
Rhea is good option since it possibly has an internal ocean with an atmosphere of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The internal oceans are backbones for a teeming sea water life and it could reveal many more astonishing facts of our hydrosphere and how it works. We could possibly extract information about the roots of Rhea and use them to solve further enigmas of marine life on Earth. Moreover, the characteristics of Rhea that they are mostly composed of water and ice insinuates that we could observe possible forms of life in Rhea. What if we could find ancient life or civilization that once existed on the planet? Rhea's water can sustain a whole generation of organisms that ultimately need water to survive. The planet Rhea also is an interesting choice since it has a layer of atmosphere comprised of oxygen and CO2. This could open us to a surge of questions regarding life on Rhea since most animals and living matter depends on these two forms of gas.
Additionally, Rhea's atmosphere might enable it to fend off toxic radiation from the sun. There is a heated controversy whether Rhea has a ring system of its own and even if they are not rings, why there is a debris that seems to be around it. Taking a closer inspection on the Rhea moon could give us final evidence and answers regarding many mysteries of it as well.
Tethys, as presented in the last satellite picture along with Rhea, is also a fascinating topic since its surface is saturated with ice yet other minerals that make it up are still ambiguous. Tethys is known to have even more ice than Pluto so definitely delving into the roots of the abundance of ice is a thrilling matter. Moreover, it is imperative to expand our knowledge on certain details including the materials of the moon as well as inspect the cause of its incandescence. Tethys is known to be one of the shiniest objects existing in the solar system, and thoroughly researching why its reflective properties make it shinier than other objects could also answer many scientific mysteries of this moon.
Hence, the further examination of the moons Rhea and Tethys could yield the most interesting scientific facts that could enhance our knowledge of what is out there. There are many riddles and questions yet to be solved about these moons, and its plausible suggestion of life makes it a worthwhile topic to cover for modern scientists."
