Cassini’s Mission: A Spacecraft, a Tiny Moon, and the Search for Life Beyond Earth

“Life as we know/ it,” explains Venit (Forts) on the opening pages of this celestial nonfiction overview, requires “Water/ Chemicals/ Energy... Remember that.” When robotic spacecraft Cassini found that Saturn’s moon Enceladus has all three, scientists and space enthusiasts worldwide celebrated the momentous revelation. The book chronicles in spare, crisp language how Cassini was equipped for her seven-year journey to Saturn with instruments that could detect the essential elements of life: “She grew and grew with tools.// And when she was all grown up, she left home.” Luminous digital illustrations by Blattman, making her picture book debut, enable readers to tag along as Cassini sails through stars, zooms along Saturn’s amazing rings, and dives into Enceladus’s mysterious plumes—the spacecraft meets every challenge the crew presents, even transmitting data during a final, fiery descent into Saturn’s atmosphere. It’s a courageous, steadfastly rendered journey that will help imaginations reach escape velocity. Includes contextualizing back matter. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Joyce Sweeney, Seymour Agency. (Aug.)