The Science Case for an Orbital Mission to Uranus Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Ice Giant Planets
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A Wunda-Full World? Carbon Dioxide Ice Deposits on Umbriel and Other Uranian Moons
Icarus 290 (2017) 1–13 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus A Wunda-full world? Carbon dioxide ice deposits on Umbriel and other Uranian moons ∗ Michael M. Sori , Jonathan Bapst, Ali M. Bramson, Shane Byrne, Margaret E. Landis Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Carbon dioxide has been detected on the trailing hemispheres of several Uranian satellites, but the exact Received 22 June 2016 nature and distribution of the molecules remain unknown. One such satellite, Umbriel, has a prominent Revised 28 January 2017 high albedo annulus-shaped feature within the 131-km-diameter impact crater Wunda. We hypothesize Accepted 28 February 2017 that this feature is a solid deposit of CO ice. We combine thermal and ballistic transport modeling to Available online 2 March 2017 2 study the evolution of CO 2 molecules on the surface of Umbriel, a high-obliquity ( ∼98 °) body. Consid- ering processes such as sublimation and Jeans escape, we find that CO 2 ice migrates to low latitudes on geologically short (100s–1000 s of years) timescales. Crater morphology and location create a local cold trap inside Wunda, and the slopes of crater walls and a central peak explain the deposit’s annular shape. The high albedo and thermal inertia of CO 2 ice relative to regolith allows deposits 15-m-thick or greater to be stable over the age of the solar system. -
+ New Horizons
Media Contacts NASA Headquarters Policy/Program Management Dwayne Brown New Horizons Nuclear Safety (202) 358-1726 [email protected] The Johns Hopkins University Mission Management Applied Physics Laboratory Spacecraft Operations Michael Buckley (240) 228-7536 or (443) 778-7536 [email protected] Southwest Research Institute Principal Investigator Institution Maria Martinez (210) 522-3305 [email protected] NASA Kennedy Space Center Launch Operations George Diller (321) 867-2468 [email protected] Lockheed Martin Space Systems Launch Vehicle Julie Andrews (321) 853-1567 [email protected] International Launch Services Launch Vehicle Fran Slimmer (571) 633-7462 [email protected] NEW HORIZONS Table of Contents Media Services Information ................................................................................................ 2 Quick Facts .............................................................................................................................. 3 Pluto at a Glance ...................................................................................................................... 5 Why Pluto and the Kuiper Belt? The Science of New Horizons ............................... 7 NASA’s New Frontiers Program ........................................................................................14 The Spacecraft ........................................................................................................................15 Science Payload ...............................................................................................................16 -
SWIFTS and SWIFTS-LA: Two Concepts for High Spectral Resolution Static Micro-Imaging Spectrometers
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 9, EPSC2014-439-1, 2014 European Planetary Science Congress 2014 EEuropeaPn PlanetarSy Science CCongress c Author(s) 2014 SWIFTS and SWIFTS-LA: two concepts for high spectral resolution static micro-imaging spectrometers E. Le Coarer(1), B. Schmitt(1), N. Guerineau (2), G. Martin (1) S. Rommeluere (2), Y. Ferrec (2) F. Simon (1) F. Thomas (1) (1) Univ. UGA ,CNRS, Lab. IPAG, Grenoble, France. (2) ONERA/DOTA Palaiseau France ([email protected] grenoble.fr). Abstract All these instruments use either optical gratings, Fourier transform or AOTF spectrometers. The two SWIFTS (Stationary-Wave Integrated Fourier first types need moving mirrors to scan spectrally Transform Spectrometer) represents a family of very thus adding complexity and failure risk in space. The compact spectrometers based on detection of interesting solution of AOTF, without moving part standing waves for which detectors play itself a role (only piezo) is however limited in resolution to a few in the interferential detection mechanism. The aim of cm-1 due to limitation in monocrystal size (fragile). this paper is to illustrate how these spectrometers can Strong limitations of these instruments in terms of be used to build efficient imaging spectrometers for performances (spectral & spatial resolution and range, planetary exploration inside dm3 instrumental volume. S/N ratio) come from their already large mass, The first mode (SWIFTS) is devoted to high spectral volume, and power consumption. Further increasing resolving power imaging (R~10000-50000) for one of these characteristics will be at the cost of even 40x40 pixels field of view. The second mode bigger instruments. -
The Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph Investigation
THE CASSINI ULTRAVIOLET IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH INVESTIGATION 1, 1 1 LARRY W. ESPOSITO ∗, CHARLES A. BARTH , JOSHUA E. COLWELL , GEORGE M. LAWRENCE1, WILLIAM E. McCLINTOCK1,A. IAN F. STEWART1, H. UWE KELLER2, AXEL KORTH2, HANS LAUCHE2, MICHEL C. FESTOU3,ARTHUR L. LANE4, CANDICE J. HANSEN4, JUSTIN N. MAKI4,ROBERT A. WEST4, HERBERT JAHN5, RALF REULKE5, KERSTIN WARLICH5, DONALD E. SHEMANSKY6 and YUK L. YUNG7 1University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, U.S.A. 2Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Aeronomie, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany 3Observatoire Midi-Pyren´ ees,´ 14 avenue E. Belin, F31400 Toulouse, France 4JetPropulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, U.S.A. 5Deutsches Zentrum fur¨ Luft und Raumfahrt, Institut fur¨ Weltraumsensorik und Planetenerkundung, Rutherford Strasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany 6University of Southern California, Department of Aerospace Engineering, 854 W. 36th Place, Los Angeles, CA 90089, U.S.A. 7California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, MS 150-21, Pasadena, CA 91125, U.S.A. (∗Author for correspondence: E-mail: [email protected]) (Received 8 July 1999; Accepted in final form 18 October 2000) Abstract. The Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) is part of the remote sensing payload of the Cassini orbiter spacecraft. UVIS has two spectrographic channels that provide images and spectra covering the ranges from 56 to 118 nm and 110 to 190 nm. A third optical path with a solar blind CsI photocathode is used for high signal-to-noise-ratio stellar occultations by rings and atmospheres. A separate Hydrogen Deuterium Absorption Cell measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from their Lyman-α emission. -
Neptune and Uranus: Ice Or Rock Giants? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 378(2187)
Teanby, N. A., Irwin, P. G. J., Moses, J. I., & Helled, R. (2020). Neptune and Uranus: ice or rock giants? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 378(2187). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0489 Peer reviewed version Link to published version (if available): 10.1098/rsta.2019.0489 Link to publication record in Explore Bristol Research PDF-document This is the author accepted manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via The Royal Society at https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2019.0489 . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher. University of Bristol - Explore Bristol Research General rights This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/red/research-policy/pure/user-guides/ebr-terms/ Submitted to Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A - Issue Page 2 of 19 1 2 3 4 5 Neptune and Uranus: ice or 6 7 rock giants? 8 rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org 1 2 3 9 N. A. Teanby , P. G. J. Irwin , J. I. Moses 10 4 11 and R. Helled 12 1 13 Research School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills 14 Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK 15 2Atmospheric, Oceanic & Planetary Physics, University Article submitted to journal 16 of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, 17 18 OX1 3PU. UK. 3 19 Subject Areas: Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 20 Solar System, Planetary Interiors,For Review205, Boulder, Only CO 80301, USA. -
Uranus Pathfinder: Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Ice Giant Planets
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 7 EPSC2012-660 2012 European Planetary Science Congress 2012 EEuropeaPn PlanetarSy Science CCongress c Author(s) 2012 Uranus Pathfinder: Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Ice Giant Planets C.S. Arridge (1,2) for the Uranus Pathfinder Consortium (1) Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, UK, (2) The Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck, London, UK ([email protected]) Abstract In this paper we discuss this European effort to explore Uranus and outline ongoing developments of The “Ice Giants” Uranus and Neptune are a different the mission concept. class of planet compared to Jupiter and Saturn. Studying these objects is important for furthering our References understanding of the formation and evolution of the planets, and unravelling the fundamental physical [1] Arridge, C.S., et al.: Uranus Pathfinder: Exploring the and chemical processes in the Solar System. The origins and evolution of ice giant planets, Exp. Astron., doi: 10.1007/s10686-011-9251-4, 2012. importance of filling these gaps in our knowledge of the Solar System is particularly acute when trying to apply our understanding to the numerous planetary systems that have been discovered around other stars. The Uranus Pathfinder (UP) mission [1] thus represents the quintessential aspects of the objectives of the European planetary community as expressed in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025. UP was proposed to the European Space Agency’s M3 call for medium-class missions in 2010 and proposed to be the first orbiter of an Ice Giant planet. As the most accessible Ice Giant within the M-class mission envelope Uranus was identified as the mission target. -
The Mystery and Majesty
The mystery and majesty Nearly 40 years after THE SPACE AGE BLASTED off when the Soviet Union launched the Voyager 2 visited Uranus world’s first artificial satellite in 1957. Since then, humanity has explored our cosmic and Neptune, scientists are backyard with vigor — and yet two planets have fallen to the planetary probe wayside. eager for new expeditions. In the 63 years since Sputnik, humanity has only visited Neptune and Uranus once BY JOEL DAVIS — when Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in January 1986 and Neptune in August 1989 40 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2020 of the ICE GIANTS — and even that wasn’t entirely pre- interstellar mission, more than a dozen pro- In 1781, Uranus became the first planet planned. The unmitigated success of posals have been offered for return missions ever discovered using a telescope. Nearly 200 years later, Voyager 2 Voyager 1 and 2 on their original mission to one or both ice giants. So far, none have became the first spacecraft to visit to explore Jupiter and Saturn earned the made it past the proposal stage due to lack Uranus and Neptune, in 1986 and 1989 respectively. NASA/JPL twin spacecrafts further missions in our of substantial scientific interest. Effectively, solar system and beyond, with Neptune and the planetary research community has been Uranus acting as the last stops on a Grand giving the ice giants the cold shoulder. Tour of the outer solar system. But recently, exoplanet data began In the 31 years since Voyager 2 left the revealing the abundance of icy exoplanets Neptune system in 1989 and began its in our galaxy “and new questions about WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 41 With a rotation axis tilted more than 90 degrees compared to its orbital plane, Neptune likewise has a highly tilted rotation axis and tilted magnetic axis. -
VIRTIS/Venus Express Summary
VIRTIS for Venus Express Pierre Drossart# and Giuseppe Piccioni&, December 2002 #LESIA, Obs. Paris and &IASF,Rome VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) is a complex instrument initially devoted to the remote sensing study of comet Wirtanen on the Rosetta mission, at wavelengths between 0.3 and 5 mm. The focal planes, with state of the art CCD and infrared detectors achieve high sensitivity for low emissivity sources. Due to the high flexibility of the operational modes of VIRTIS, these performances are also ideally adapted for the study of Venus atmosphere, both on night and day sides. VIRTIS is therefore aimed to provide a 4- dimensional study of Venus atmosphere (2D imaging + spectral dimension + temporal variations), the spectral variations permitting a sounding at different levels of the atmosphere, from the ground up to the thermosphere. The infrared capability of VIRTIS is especially well fitted to the thermal sounding of the night side atmosphere (Taylor et al, 1997), which give a tomography of the atmosphere down to the surface. Precursors: First attempts of imaging spectrometry on the Venus night side from space in the near infrared were made by NIMS/Galileo (Figure 1) in 1990 (Carlson et al, 1990) and VIMS/Cassini in 1999 (Baines et al, 2000). These fast fly-bys gave an idea of how powerful this method of investigation could be at Venus. Unfortunately, the limited duration of the fly- bys allowed only limited investigations, in particular on the meteorological evolution of the clouds. Observation of Venus with a new generation imaging spectrometer like VIRTIS would provide a unique opportunity to continue these investigations on an extended basis. -
Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Ice Giant Planets
Exp Astron DOI 10.1007/s10686-011-9251-4 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Uranus Pathfinder: exploring the origins and evolution of Ice Giant planets Christopher S. Arridge Craig B. Agnor Nicolas André Kevin H. Baines · · · · Leigh N. Fletcher Daniel Gautier Mark D. Hofstadter Geraint H. Jones · · · · Laurent Lamy Yves Langevin Olivier Mousis Nadine Nettelmann · · · · Christopher T. Russell Tom Stallard Matthew S. Tiscareno · · · Gabriel Tobie Andrew Bacon Chris Chaloner Michael Guest · · · · Steve Kemble Lisa Peacocke Nicholas Achilleos Thomas P. Andert · · · · Don Banfield Stas Barabash Mathieu Barthelemy Cesar Bertucci · · · · Pontus Brandt Baptiste Cecconi Supriya Chakrabarti Andy F. Cheng · · · · Ulrich Christensen Apostolos Christou Andrew J. Coates · · · Glyn Collinson John F. Cooper Regis Courtin Michele K. Dougherty · · · · Robert W. Ebert Marta Entradas Andrew N. Fazakerley · · · Jonathan J. Fortney Marina Galand Jaques Gustin Matthew Hedman · · · · Ravit Helled Pierre Henri Sebastien Hess Richard Holme · · · · Özgur Karatekin Norbert Krupp Jared Leisner Javier Martin-Torres · · · · Adam Masters Henrik Melin Steve Miller Ingo Müller-Wodarg · · · · Benoît Noyelles Chris Paranicas Imke de Pater Martin Pätzold · · · · Renée Prangé Eric Quémerais Elias Roussos Abigail M. Rymer · · · · Agustin Sánchez-Lavega Joachim Saur Kunio M. Sayanagi Paul Schenk · · · · Gerald Schubert Nick Sergis Frank Sohl Edward C. Sittler Jr. · · · · Nick A. Teanby Silvia Tellmann Elizabeth P. Turtle Sandrine Vinatier · · · · Jan-Erik Wahlund Philippe Zarka · Received: 26 November 2010 / Accepted: 21 July 2011 ©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2011 N. Achilleos Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK C. B. Agnor School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK T. P. Andert Universität der Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany N. André Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements / CNRS, Toulouse, France C. -
The Science Return from Venus Express the Science Return From
The Science Return from Venus Express Venus Express Science Håkan Svedhem & Olivier Witasse Research and Scientific Support Department, ESA Directorate of Scientific Programmes, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands Dmitri V. Titov Max Planck Institute for Solar System Studies, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany (on leave from IKI, Moscow) ince the beginning of the space era, Venus has been an attractive target for Splanetary scientists. Our nearest planetary neighbour and, in size at least, the Earth’s twin sister, Venus was expected to be very similar to our planet. However, the first phase of Venus spacecraft exploration (1962-1985) discovered an entirely different, exotic world hidden behind a curtain of dense cloud. The earlier exploration of Venus included a set of Soviet orbiters and descent probes, the Veneras 4 to14, the US Pioneer Venus mission, the Soviet Vega balloons and the Venera 15, 16 and Magellan radar-mapping orbiters, the Galileo and Cassini flybys, and a variety of ground-based observations. But despite all of this exploration by more than 20 spacecraft, the so-called ‘morning star’ remains a mysterious world! Introduction All of these earlier studies of Venus have given us a basic knowledge of the conditions prevailing on the planet, but have generated many more questions than they have answered concerning its atmospheric composition, chemistry, structure, dynamics, surface-atmosphere interactions, atmospheric and geological evolution, and plasma environment. It is now high time that we proceed from the discovery phase to a thorough -
VIRTIS on Venus Express: Retrieval of Real Surface Emissivity on Global Scales
VIRTIS on Venus Express: retrieval of real surface emissivity on global scales Gabriele E. Arnold*a, David Kappela, Rainer Hausb, Laura Telléz Pedrozaa, c, Giuseppe Piccionid, and Pierre Drossarte aDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany; bWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Institute of Planetology, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, 48149 Münster, Germany; cUniversity Potsdam, Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; dIstituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS), INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133, Roma, Italy; eLaboratoire d’Études Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Observatoire de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France. *[email protected]; phone +49-3067055370; fax + 49-3067055303 ABSTRACT The extraction of surface emissivity data provides the data base for surface composition analyses and enables to evaluate Venus’ geology. The Visible and InfraRed Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) aboard ESA’s Venus Express mission measured, inter alia, the nightside thermal emission of Venus in the near infrared atmospheric windows between 1.0 and 1.2 µm. These data can be used to determine information about surface properties on global scales. This requires a sophisticated approach to understand and consider the effects and interferences of different atmospheric and surface parameters influencing the retrieved values. In the present work, results of a new technique for retrieval of the 1.0 – 1.2 µm – surface emissivity are summarized. It includes a Multi-Window Retrieval Technique, a Multi-Spectrum Retrieval technique (MSR), and a detailed reliability analysis. The MWT bases on a detailed radiative transfer model making simultaneous use of information from different atmospheric windows of an individual spectrum. -
The Micromega Investigation Onboard Hayabusa2
Space Sci Rev (2017) 208:401–412 DOI 10.1007/s11214-017-0335-y The MicrOmega Investigation Onboard Hayabusa2 J.-P. Bibring1 · V. H a m m 1 · Y. Langevin 1 · C. Pilorget1 · A. Arondel1 · M. Bouzit1 · M. Chaigneau1 · B. Crane1 · A. Darié1 · C. Evesque1 · J. Hansotte1 · V. G a r d i e n 1 · L. Gonnod1 · J.-C. Leclech1 · L. Meslier1 · T. Redon1 · C. Tamiatto1 · S. Tosti1 · N. Thoores1 Received: 16 October 2015 / Accepted: 25 January 2017 / Published online: 9 March 2017 © The Author(s) 2017. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract MicrOmega is a near-IR hyperspectral microscope designed to characterize in situ the texture and composition of the surface materials of the Hayabusa2 target aster- oid. MicrOmega is implemented within the MASCOT lander (Ho et al. in Space Sci. Rev., 2016, this issue, doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0251-6). The spectral range (0.99–3.65 µm) and the spectral sampling (20 cm−1) of MicrOmega have been chosen to allow the identification of most potential constituent minerals, ices and organics, within each 25 µm pixel of the 3.2 × 3.2mm2 FOV. Such an unprecedented characterization will (1) enable the identifica- tion of most major and minor phases, including the potential organic phases, and ascribe their mineralogical context, as a critical set of clues to decipher the origin and evolution of this primitive body, and (2) provide the ground truth for the orbital measurements as well as a reference for the analyses later performed on returned samples. 1 Introduction The Hayabusa mission, launched May 9, 2003, and samples returned to Earth by June 13, 2010, enabled the study of 25143 Itokawa, an S class asteroid (Fujiwara et al.