(Source: CGTN)

A tiny, ice-encrusted ocean world orbiting Saturn is now a hotter-than-ever candidate for potential life... as NASA says it has almost all conditions to harbor life.

Scientists announced Thursday that NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected the presence of molecular hydrogen in water plumes erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus. The hydrogen was detected during Cassini's deep dive close to the surface of the moon in October 2015.

The spacecraft determined that the plumes are 98 percent water and one percent hydrogen, with traces of ammonia, carbon dioxide and methane.

A NASA scientist said the finding is very significant "because the hydrogen could be a potential source of chemical energy for any microbes that might be in the Enceladus ocean".