Oxygen found on Saturn's moon Rhea

[Alpha Protocol]

I think this is awesome, finally proof of oxygen on other worlds.

A spacecraft has tasted oxygen in the atmosphere of another world for the first time while flying low over Saturn's icy moon, Rhea.

Nasa's Cassini probe scooped oxygen from the thin atmosphere of the planet's moon while passing overhead at an altitude of 97km in March this year.

Until now, wisps of oxygen have only been detected on planets and their moons indirectly, using the Hubble space telescope and other major facilities.

Instruments aboard Cassini revealed an extremely thin oxygen and carbon dioxide atmosphere that is sustained by high-energy particles slamming into the moon's surface and kicking up atoms, molecules and ions.

Astronomers have counted 62 moons orbiting Saturn. At 1500km wide, Rhea is the second largest and is thought to be made almost entirely of ice.

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/25/oxygen-saturn-moon-rhea

[Berzerker]

I'm gonna assume they aint got stromatilites (how do ya spell that) so there must be a natural non-life process for producing O2

[MrFun]

What's more fascinating is that there were more than 105 viewers and only two replies so far.

[ricketyclik]

That would have been Rhean stromatolites googling themselves.

[rah]

What's more fascinating is that there were more than 105 viewers and only two replies so far.

Typical with serious threads here. Even the jokes are bad.

[Provost Harrison]

I tell you, the only gases discovered near my rhea are methane and sulphur dioxide...

[Dauphin]

Is your Rhea brown or yellow? Don't ammonia at the crapulence of that pun, or piss yourself too much.

[MOBIUS]

And swiftly another serious thread descends into toilet humour!

[Provost Harrison]

Is your Rhea brown or yellow? Don't ammonia at the crapulence of that pun, or piss yourself too much.

My Rhea is more like Uranus Or like its satellite Miranda...it has a massive crack