Infect Enceladus
A modest proposal
NASA has announced that there is hydrogen in the plumes from Enceladus, presumably from interaction of liquid water with tidally-heated rock. This plus the CO2 also found in the plumes would be an energy source for methanogenic bacteria. But since this source is not all eaten up, that suggests that though there is a hospitable environment for life on Enceladus, there is none there as yet.
That is shown by the “tiger stripes” of Enceladus, which reveal that the under-ice ocean bears the pristine blue of water devoid of life. This stands in dramatic contrast to the muddy – and dare I say shitty? – brown of the cracks on Titan.
NASA has a planetary-protection protocol, forbidding the spread of life from Earth, lest it endanger native life. But if there is no life on Enceladus, though there could be, then I say let’s put some there, just to have neighbors in the solar system.
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