Moon looks like Death Star

CALAFORNIA'S JET PROPULSION LAB has sent back a new photo of one of Staurn's moons which it insists on comparing to the Death Star, something that frankly you would think space organisations would be keen to avoid.

The JPL was sent a photo postcard from the Cassini space mission of the Saturnian moon Mimas last week and, rather nicely, has shared it with the rest of us.

"Blazing through its closest pass of the Saturnian moon Mimas on Feb. 13, Cassini sent back striking close-ups of the moon likened to the Death Star from "Star Wars" and the enormous crater scarring its surface." It added, "The flyby also yielded solid data on the moon's thermal signature and surface composition", but that is a lot less interesting than a Star Wars reference.

Seemingly obsessed with trying to present the moon in a way that relates to those of us that sit around watching the television, JPL added "The icy slopes appear to be pitched around 24 degrees, which would probably earn them a black- or double-black-diamond rating on Earth. Olympic downhill skiers could probably tear down these runs with ease, but it's clear Mimas is no place for bunny-slope beginners."

Clear how? We reckon the Mimas moon is probably a fine place to go skiiing, aside from the lack of oxygen and gravity, that is. µ