SCIENCE NOTEBOOK

Flyby Sips Saturn Moon's Geysers

NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew through jets of geyser-like icy water spewing from Saturn's moon Enceladus last week, collecting samples that could help explain whether liquid water -- and perhaps even water with organic material -- is trapped beneath the lunar crust.

Flying through the plumes at 120 miles above the surface, and then taking photos from as close as 30 miles, Cassini also gathered data that will help explain how the ice water collects into a giant halo of ice dust and gas around Enceladus, and how that halo helps supply material to one of Saturn's rings.

The close flyby, which scientists hope to follow with an even closer one later this year, also revealed that the north and south poles of the moon are geologically very different. The northern region is much older and pitted with a variety of craters not seen elsewhere on the moon. The geysers spew water vapor at 800 mph from surface fractures running along the south pole.

The flyby and another one planned for Oct. 9 were designed to allow Cassini's particle analyzers to dissect the body of a plume for clues about its particles' density, size, composition and speed.

Instruments on Cassini, which is a joint mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, discovered evidence for the geyser-like jets on Enceladus in 2005.

-- Marc Kaufman

Stork Brings Kiwi to National Zoo

A North Island brown kiwi has been born at the National Zoo, a notable event because the bird is one of the world's most endangered species.

The chick hatched at the zoo's Bird House early on March 7 after the chick's father incubated the egg for a month and keepers incubated it for another five weeks, zoo officials said.

The little bird is now being kept in a specially designed brooding box. It will not be on exhibit but can be viewed via a webcam ( http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Kiwi/default.cfm). Because kiwis are nocturnal, the best time to take a look is in the evening.

Zookeepers have not yet determined the chick's sex. That's something geneticists are working on by analyzing samples swabbed from inside the egg and the bird's beak.