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ENCELADUS IS THE OBVIOUS SITE OF ONGOING ERUPTIONS BUT THE OTHER ICY MOONS ALSO BETRAY INDICATIONS THAT THE SATURN SYSTEM ITSELF HAS SEEN GEOLOGIC ACTIVITY. DURING THE CASSINI MISSION PROMINENT ANOMALOUS IR-BRIGHT (REDDISH IN 3-COLOR PRESENTATIONS) ARCUATE FEATURES WERE DISCOVERED ON THE LOW-DENSITY ICY MOON TETHYS. THESE FEATURES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY AN UNUSUAL IR-BRIGHT SPECTRAL SIGNATURES AND THEIR APPARENT YOUTH CROSSING ALL KNOWN FEATURES DESPITE ONGOING DEPOSITION BY E-RING AND OTHER MATERIALS. AS SUCH THEY COULD REPRESENT THE ONLY ONGOING INTERNAL ACTIVITY ON A MIDSIZE SATURNIAN MOON OTHER THAN ENCELADUS OR TITAN. ALTHOUGH DISCOVERED LATE IN THE MISSION SEVERAL CASSINI OBSERVATION SEQUENCES WERE EITHER REDESIGNED OR ADDED TO LOOK AT THE THE GEOLOGIC AND DISTRIBUTION OF THESE FEATURES OBSERVATIONS WE WILL LEVERAGE FOR THIS WORK. WE PROPOSE A MULTI-INSTRUMENT AND MULTIPLE TECHNIQUE APPROACH TO ASSESS THE GEOLOGIC HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF THESE FEATURES. WE SHALL USE ISS GLOBAL AND HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING TO COMPLETE THE GLOBAL MAP OF THESE FEATURES AND TO STUDY ALL RESOLVABLE FEATURES ALONG THEM. WE SHALL ALSO SEARCH AND EVALUATE ALL VIMS HIGH-RESOLUTION MULTISPECTRAL CUBES OVER THESE FEATURES TO ASSESS THEIR COMPOSITION IN PARTICULAR TO SEARCH FOR SIGNATURES OF ORGANICS THAT WERE SUGGESTED BY INITIAL SURVEYS OF THESE FEATURES AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND HOW THESE CHARACTERISTICS RELATE TO ORIGIN. WE SHALL ALSO USE THE GLOBAL PATTERN OF THESE FEATURES TO TEST VARIOUS GEOPHYSICAL MODELS OF THEIR ORIGIN FROM POLAR WANDER TO TIDAL STRESSES TO ASSESS WHICH GLOBAL STRESS FIELDS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE VERY YOUNG FEATURES. THE PROPOSED WORK MAKES EXTENSIVE USE OF ISS AND VIMS DATA OF A TARGET BODY SPECIFICALLY TARGETED BY CASSINI FOLLOWING A ICY MOON THAT BETRAYS VERY SURPRISING INDICATIONS OF RATHER RECENT ACTIVITY.

$279,510FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Universities Space Research Association, Washington DC

Investigators

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