ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons.

Why you should listen

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from NASA space missions like the renowned Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. She leads a team of scientists from the US and Europe that has been analyzing the images Cassini has sent back since it left Earth in 1997. At Saturn, they have found new phenomena everywhere they've turned their cameras … in the planet’s atmosphere, within its rings and on the surfaces of its many moons. And they've produced spectacular images and animations of these marvels in the process.

Back in the early-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto the Voyager imaging team to assist in crunching the mountains of data coming back from Voyager’s fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's rings and their relation to its moons cemented her connection with Saturn. After Voyager had flown by Neptune and was nearing conclusion, she worked together with Carl Sagan in planning Voyager’s celebrated Pale Blue Dot picture of Earth.

Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process, interpret and archive Cassini’s images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. Her advocacy extends to Hollywood, where she was the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” and a consultant on the 2009 Paramount Pictures re-boot of “Star Trek.” In 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

Finally, in a twist on the Pale Blue Dot theme, it was she who conceived the idea to invite the people of the world to smile while Cassini imaged the Earth on July 19, 2013 in an event called “The Day the Earth Smiled.”

For more information: 

Solar System Portrait: Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

BBC: Saturn snapped as Earth smiled

The Atlantic: The Carl Sagan of Our Time Reprises the 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo of Earth

The Day the Earth Smiled: Image

Library of Congress: Portraits of the Solar System: Talking with Carolyn Porco About Carl Sagan  

More profile about the speaker
Carolyn Porco | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Carolyn Porco: Could a Saturn moon harbor life?

Carolyn Porco: Ar putea un satelit al lui Saturn adăposti viaţă?

Filmed:
1,054,733 views

Carolyn Porco împărtăşeşte descoperiri incredibile făcute de sonda Cassini într-un flyby recent privind una din lunile lui Saturn, Enceladus. Mostrele preluate din gheizerele îngheţate ale satelitului sugerează faptul că un ocean aflat sub suprafaţa lui ar găzdui forme de viaţă.
- Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:18
Two yearsani agoîn urmă here at TEDTED
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Acum doi ani, tot aici la TED,
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I reportedraportat that we had discovereddescoperit
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v-am vorbit despre descoperirea
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at SaturnSaturn, with the CassiniCassini SpacecraftNave spațiale,
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în jurul lui Saturn, cu sonda Cassini,
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an anomalouslyanomalously warmcald and geologicallygeologic activeactiv regionregiune
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a unei regiuni anormal de caldă și geologic activă
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at the southernsudic tipbacsis of the smallmic SaturnineTaciturn moonlună
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în partea de sud a unui satelit Saturnian,
00:31
EnceladusEnceladus, seenvăzut here.
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Enceladus, prezentat aici.
00:33
This regionregiune seenvăzut here for the first time
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Această regiune a fost văzută pentru prima dată
00:35
in the CassiniCassini imageimagine takenluate in 2005. This is the southsud polarpolar regionregiune,
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într-o imagine captată de Cassini în 2005. Asta e regiunea
00:40
with the famouscelebru tiger-stripeTiger benzi fracturesfracturi crossingtrecere the southsud polepol.
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cu faimoasele fracturi dungi-de-tigru traversând polul sud.
00:43
And seenvăzut just recentlyrecent in latetârziu 2008,
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Văzută iar la finele anului 2008,
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here is that regionregiune again,
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iată aceiași regiune
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now halfjumătate in darknessîntuneric because the southernsudic hemisphereemisfera sudică
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acum pe jumătate în întuneric deoarece emisfera de sud
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is experiencingse confruntă cu the onsetdebutul of AugustAugust
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se află la începutul lui august
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and eventuallyîn cele din urmă winteriarnă.
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și în final iarna.
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And I alsode asemenea reportedraportat that we'dne-am madefăcut this mind-blowingcare te lasă paf discoverydescoperire --
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V-am relatat c-am făcut această uluitoare descoperire -
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this once-in-a-lifetimeunică în viaţă discoverydescoperire
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genul de descoperire unică în viaţă -
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of toweringÎnălţându-se jetsjeturi
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a unor jeturi înalte
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eruptingerupe from those fracturesfracturi at the southsud polepol,
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ce erup din aceste fracturi de la polul sud,
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consistingconstând în of tinyminuscul waterapă icegheaţă crystalscristale
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formate din cristale minuscule de ghiață
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accompaniedînsoţite by waterapă vaporvapori de
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însoțite de vapori de apă
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and simplesimplu organicorganic compoundscompuşi like carboncarbon dioxidebioxid and methanemetan.
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și compuși organici simpli, dioxid de carbon și metan.
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And at that time two yearsani agoîn urmă
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Acum doi ani
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I mentionedmenționat that we were speculatingspeculaţii
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am menționat că presupunem
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that these jetsjeturi mightar putea in factfapt be geysersgheizere,
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că aceste jeturi pot fi gheizere
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and eruptingerupe from pocketsbuzunare
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care erup din pungi
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or chambersCamere of liquidlichid waterapă underneathdedesubt the surfacesuprafaţă,
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de apă lichidă sub învelișul exterior.
01:26
but we weren'tnu au fost really sure.
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Dar nu eram prea siguri.
01:28
HoweverCu toate acestea, the implicationsimplicații of those resultsrezultate --
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Totuși implicațiile acelor rezultate,
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of a possibleposibil environmentmediu inconjurator withinîn this moonlună
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un posibil mediu în interiorul acestui satelit
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that could supporta sustine prebioticprebiotice chemistrychimie,
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care ar putea favoriza chimia pre-biotică,
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and perhapspoate life itselfîn sine --
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poate chiar viața însăşi,
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were so excitingemoționant that, in the interveningintervin two yearsani,
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erau atât de incitante încât în următorii ani
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we have focusedconcentrat more on EnceladusEnceladus.
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ne-am concentrat mai mult asupra lui Enceladus.
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We'veNe-am flownzburat the CassiniCassini SpacecraftNave spațiale
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Am navigat nava Cassini
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by this moonlună now severalmai mulți timesori,
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pe lângă acest satelit de câteva ori de atunci,
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flyingzbor closermai aproape and deeperMai adânc into these jetsjeturi,
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zburând mai aproape și mai adânc în aceste jeturi,
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into the densermai dens regionsregiuni of these jetsjeturi,
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în zonele mai dense,
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so that now we have come away with some
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așa încât acum avem câteva
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very preciseprecis compositionalcompoziţie measurementsmăsurători.
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măsurători compoziționale foarte precise.
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And we have foundgăsite
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Am identificat
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that the organicorganic compoundscompuşi comingvenire from this moonlună
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că materialul organic emis de acest satelit
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are in factfapt more complexcomplex than we previouslyîn prealabil reportedraportat.
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e de fapt mai complex decât am presupus inițial.
02:05
While they're not aminoamino acidsacizi,
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Deși nu sunt amino acizi
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we're now findingdescoperire things like
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descoperim acum compuși ca
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propanepropan and benzenebenzen,
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propanul și benzenul,
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hydrogenhidrogen cyanidecianură, and formaldehydeformaldehidă.
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acidul cianhidric și formaldehida.
02:13
And the tinyminuscul waterapă crystalscristale here
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Micuţele cristalele de apă de aici
02:16
now look for all the worldlume
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par pentru toată lumea
02:18
like they are frozenîngheţat dropletsdroplet-uri of saltysarata waterapă,
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a fi picături înghețate de apă sărată.
02:21
whichcare is a discoverydescoperire that suggestssugerează
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Asta e o descoperire care sugerează
02:23
that not only do the jetsjeturi come from
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nu doar faptul că aceste jeturi
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pocketsbuzunare of liquidlichid waterapă,
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provin din bazine de apă lichidă,
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but that that liquidlichid waterapă is in contacta lua legatura with rockstâncă.
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dar și că acea apă lichidă e în contact cu roca.
02:30
And that is a circumstancecircumstanţă
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Asta e o condiție
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that could supplylivra the chemicalchimic energyenergie
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care ar putea oferi energia
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and the chemicalchimic compoundscompuşi neededNecesar to sustainsuporta life.
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și compușii chimici necesari pentru a menține viața.
02:37
So we are very encouragedîncurajat by these resultsrezultate.
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Suntem foarte încurajați de aceste rezultate.
02:40
And we are much more confidentîncrezător now than we were two yearsani agoîn urmă
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Suntem mai siguri acum decât acum doi ani
02:43
that we mightar putea indeedintr-adevar
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că într-adevăr am putea avea
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have on this moonlună, undersub the southsud polepol,
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pe acest satelit, la polul sud,
02:48
an environmentmediu inconjurator or a zonezona that is hospitableospitalier to livingviaţă organismsorganisme.
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un mediu sau o zonă adecvată organismelor vii.
02:52
WhetherDacă or not there are livingviaţă organismsorganisme there, of coursecurs,
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Dacă există sau nu organisme vii acolo,
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is an entirelyîn întregime differentdiferit mattermaterie.
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e cu totul o altă problemă,
02:57
And that will have to awaitvă aşteaptă the arrivalsosire,
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care va trebui să aștepte
02:59
back at EnceladusEnceladus,
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sosirea înapoi la Enceladus,
03:02
of the spacecraftsspacecrafts, hopefullyin speranta some time in the nearaproape futureviitor,
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a sondelor spațiale, poate cândva în viitorul apropiat,
03:05
specificallyspecific equippedechipat to addressadresa that particularspecial questionîntrebare.
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echipate specific pentru a aborda această întrebare.
03:09
But in the meantimeîntre timp I invitea invita you to imagineimagina the day
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Între timp vă invit să vă imaginați ziua
03:12
when we mightar putea journeycălătorie to the SaturnineTaciturn systemsistem,
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în care vom putea călători spre sistemul Saturnian,
03:15
and visitvizita the EnceladusEnceladus interplanetaryinterplanetar geysergheizer parkparc,
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când vom vizita parcul interplanetar de gheizere de pe Enceladus
03:19
just because we can.
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doar pentru că putem face asta.
03:21
Thank you.
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Vă mulțumesc.
03:23
(ApplauseAplauze)
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(Aplauze)
Translated by Victor D.
Reviewed by Dragos Mitrica

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons.

Why you should listen

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from NASA space missions like the renowned Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. She leads a team of scientists from the US and Europe that has been analyzing the images Cassini has sent back since it left Earth in 1997. At Saturn, they have found new phenomena everywhere they've turned their cameras … in the planet’s atmosphere, within its rings and on the surfaces of its many moons. And they've produced spectacular images and animations of these marvels in the process.

Back in the early-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto the Voyager imaging team to assist in crunching the mountains of data coming back from Voyager’s fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's rings and their relation to its moons cemented her connection with Saturn. After Voyager had flown by Neptune and was nearing conclusion, she worked together with Carl Sagan in planning Voyager’s celebrated Pale Blue Dot picture of Earth.

Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process, interpret and archive Cassini’s images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. Her advocacy extends to Hollywood, where she was the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” and a consultant on the 2009 Paramount Pictures re-boot of “Star Trek.” In 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

Finally, in a twist on the Pale Blue Dot theme, it was she who conceived the idea to invite the people of the world to smile while Cassini imaged the Earth on July 19, 2013 in an event called “The Day the Earth Smiled.”

For more information: 

Solar System Portrait: Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

BBC: Saturn snapped as Earth smiled

The Atlantic: The Carl Sagan of Our Time Reprises the 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo of Earth

The Day the Earth Smiled: Image

Library of Congress: Portraits of the Solar System: Talking with Carolyn Porco About Carl Sagan  

More profile about the speaker
Carolyn Porco | Speaker | TED.com