Cassini Flyby Reveals What Saturn's 'Geyser Moon' Enceladus Looks Like Up Close

— -- The frigid world of Saturn's moon Enceladus has come into view in a set of new photos released today by NASA.

NASA's hugely successful Cassini space probe got up close with a plume from an alien ocean during a flyby earlier this week. The plunge was significant because NASA said the moon's global ocean and evidence of possible hydrothermal activity means it could hold the ingredients needed to support simple life.

"Cassini's stunning images are providing us a quick look at Enceladus from this ultra-close flyby, but some of the most exciting science is yet to come," Linda Spilker, the mission's project scientist, said in a statement. She said much of the data is still being sent back to Earth.

When Cassini made its "deep dive," it passed within 30 miles of Enceladus' south pole, moving through icy spray believed to come from the ocean.

One of the most important measurements Cassini took is the amount of molecular hydrogen in the plume. That's two hydrogen atoms stuck together -- the lightest molecule in the universe. Knowing this level will provide more insight on how much hydrothermal activity is happening on the moon, according to scientists. Hydrothermal activity, which is the interaction between hot water and rocks, would indicate the potential for simple life forms to exist in the moon's ocean.

Scientists have been fascinated with Enceladus since the discovery a decade ago of continually erupting fountains of icy material and believe it is a potential location in the search for a habitable environment in our solar system.

Cassini will make its final flyby of Enceladus in December at an altitude of 3,106 miles with the goal of examining heat from the moon's interior.

Launched in 1997, the Cassini mission arrived in the Saturn system in 2004 and has been working ever since to study the gas giant and its dozens of moons. The probe's mission is scheduled to end in September 2017, when it will make a fatal plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.