Software glitch hits Saturn moon probe

A SOFTWARE malfunction prevented a key piece of equipment on the Cassini spacecraft from recording data as it flew through the plume from a geyser shooting off a moon of Saturn, NASA has said.

NASA called the problem “an unexplained software hiccup” that came at a very bad time, preventing Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyser instrument from collecting data for about two hours as it flew over the surface of the moon Enceladus on Wednesday.

A key objective of the fly-by was to determine the density, size, composition and speed of particles erupting into space from the moon’s south pole in a dramatic plume.