Nasa Cassini Image: Geyser on Saturn's Moon Enceladus

A geyser is seen on Saturn's moon Enceladus in this image by NASA's Cassini mission. 

Scientists used views like this to help them identify the source locations for individual jets spurting ice particles, water vapour and trace organic compounds from the surface of Enceladus.

Picture: REUTERS/NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Roscosmos: Manned Moon Shot Possible by 2020

A crewed mission to the moon is possible by 2020, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, Vladimir Popovkin, said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Thursday.

"Today science is ripe for using the moon. I think that by 2020 a man will land on the moon," Popovkin said.

He also said Russia's previously announced cosmonaut recruitment drive will focus on preparing crews for a moon mission. The competition will be open for every Russian citizen with technical or medical education.

"I can say that this group will most likely be trained for a lunar mission," he said.

On January 19, Popovkin voiced plans to set up manned moon research bases with European and U.S. partners, saying that there were plans to either set up a moon base or to launch an orbital station. To that end, Russia is currently developing a "prospective manned transportation system" to be sent to the moon, he added.

Russia is also planning to send two unmanned moon missions by 2020, Luna-Glob (Lunar Sphere) and Luna-Resurs in 2015. The launch timeframe, however, may be reviewed because the two spacecraft are being built with the same technologies as Russia's failed mission to Phobos and are therefore vulnerable to cosmic radiation.

The moon base project has similarities Cold War-era plans to create a permanent outpost on the moon, which has been envisioned by some Soviet and U.S. scientists since the late 1950s.

A week after Popovkin's announcement of a moon base construction project, U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich promised to build a moon base by 2020 if he becomes the next U.S. president in November.

Blue Hue in Geyser Water: Haukadalur valley, Iceland

A mysterious blue colour is clearly captured in the split second before a geyser violently erupts.

The hue was captured on camera as a torrent of scalding water exploded from within the crater.

Photographer Tatyana Kildisheva was left baffled when she checked her images and discovered the sight.

She thinks it is either produced by chemicals in the exploding water or a light effect caused by the sun. Tatyana took the image in the Haukadalur valley, Iceland.

She said: "I wanted to capture the moment right before the geyser erupts, when a bubble is growing and is at its biggest size. It took me a while to catch this particular image, because this moment lasts for a fraction of a second.

I don't know what causes the blue colour. It might be chemicals - not far from this geyser is a blue water pool."

Picture: Tatyana Kildisheva/Solent News

NASA Cassini Double Play: Enceladus And Titan

On the left, Saturn's moon Enceladus is backlit by the sun, showing the fountain-like sources of the fine spray of material that towers over the south polar region.

On the right, is a composite image of Titan. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI and NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

About a month and a half after its last double flyby, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be turning another double play this week, visiting the geyser moon Enceladus and the hazy moon Titan.

The alignment of the moons means that Cassini can catch glimpses of these two contrasting worlds within less than 48 hours, with no detours in between.

Cassini will make its closest approach to Enceladus late at night on May 17 Pacific time, which is in the early hours of May 18 UTC. The spacecraft will pass within about 435 kilometers (270 miles) of the moon's surface.

The main scientific goal at Enceladus will be to watch the sun play peekaboo behind the water-rich plume emanating from the moon's south polar region. Scientists using the ultraviolet imaging spectrograph will be able to use the flickering light to measure whether there is molecular nitrogen in the plume.

Ammonia has already been detected in the plume and scientists know heat can decompose ammonia into nitrogen molecules. Determining the amount of molecular nitrogen in the plume will give scientists clues about thermal processing in the moon's interior.

The second of Cassini's two flybys is an encounter with Titan. The closest approach will take place in the late evening May 19 Pacific time, which is in the early hours of May 20 UTC. The spacecraft will fly to within 1,400 kilometers (750 miles) of the surface.

Cassini will primarily be doing radio science during this pass to detect the subtle variations in the gravitational tug on the spacecraft by Titan, which is 25 percent larger in volume than the planet Mercury.

Analyzing the data will help scientists learn whether Titan has a liquid ocean under its surface and get a better picture of its internal structure. The composite infrared spectrometer will also get its southernmost pass for thermal data to fill out its temperature map of the smoggy moon.

Cassini has made four previous double flybys and one more is planned in the years ahead.