NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists and engineers are making Cassini spacecraft ready for a daring run across a plume ejected from the surface of Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn.

During the pass, the spacecraft will reach speed of about 19,000 mph. With the help of this pass, scientists will be able to better understand the dynamics present in the ocean on far away icy world.

Cassini will sample water ejecting up from geysers spraying up from the Saturn's moon on Wednesday, October 28.

Cassini will fly through the plume, which has the similar consistency as smoke at around 15:20 SCET/UTC at a height of about 49 km (30 miles) above the south polar region of the moon. While doing so, the spacecraft will conduct the long-lived vehicle's deepest dive through one of plumes ejected from Enceladus.

The Cassini scientists are quite hopeful this dramatic maneuver is going to provide them with more information regarding the ocean under the moon's frigid exterior. It would also give an idea about whether the world might harbor alien life or not.

They are expecting the flyby will provide them additional information about hydrothermal activity going on Enceladus. The scientists are wondering that the hot waters under the moon's icy surface may provide a habitat for simple life forms.

Cassini will be travelling 30,580 km/hr so it should take just an instant to penetrate the plume. A global liquid ocean is believed to exist beneath the frozen crust of 500km-wide Enceladus and the next dive will be the deepest one yet through the continuous plumes, making the enterprise a bit riskier than usual.

Researchers are eager to nail down the chemical makeup of Enceladus' plumes. They also hope to confirm whether the eruptions are tight columns or curtains of jets running along fractures in the south pole.

This will be the 21st flyby of Enceladus by Cassini. "It's not our last, but arguably this one is going to be our most dramatic," said project manager Earl Maize.

Cassini will detect molecular hydrogen using its ion and neutral mass spectrometer instrument (INMS) while it will be flying out into space through the plume.

The maneuver, a journey through the plume, may also help researchers in finding if the plume was a single column-based structure or whether individual jets and eruption were its cause.