Caption: 
SwRI Lead Scientist Dr. Christopher Glein was part of a team that found phosphorus, a key building block for life, from the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s small moon, Enceladus. Using Cassini data, the team found abundant phosphate (e.g., HPO4-2) in the plume erupting from the moon’s icy surface. Scientists have inferred that a soda or alkaline ocean (containing NaHCO3 and/or Na2CO3) inside of Enceladus interacts geochemically with a rocky core. Geochemical modeling and laboratory experiments indicate that this interaction promotes the dissolution of phosphate minerals, making phosphate readily available to potential life in the ocean. The discovery of phosphates by Cassini strongly supports the paradigm that Enceladus’ ocean is habitable.