Neptune's Atmospheric Composition
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Poseidon - Trident Flying by Neptune TEAM BLUE Alpbach, 2 August 2012 Outline ● Science Case ● Objectives & Requirements ● Payload ● Mission trade study & design ● System design ● Ground Segment Mission statement ● To explore the Neptunian system as an archetype for ice giants ● To investigate the nature of the moon Triton ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Call Themes addressed ● 1.3 Life and habitability in the Solar System ● 2.1 From the Sun to the edge of the Solar System ● 2.2 The giant planets and their environments 1 Mission Profile ● Neptune and Triton Flyby ● Neptune Atmosphere Probe ● Launch date - June 2028 ● Arrival at Neptunian system - Jan 2041 ● Transit time 13.4 years ● Nominal mission duration: 15.4 years Neptunian System Rationale ● Limited knowledge about icy giants ● Planet formation process ● Link to Exoplanets ● Triton - possible KBO The Neptunian System ● Only visited by Voyager 2 (August 1989) ● Additional data taken from ground-based measurements and HST ● Icy giant (30 AU) ● 13 satellites (discovered so far) in the Neptunian system ● Ring Structure ● Very dynamic storm events (Suomi et al., 1991) Neptune's Atmospheric Composition ● Main species : H2 (~80 %), He (~18 %), CH4 (~2 %) ● We expect heavy elements (Z>3) O, C, N, S in the form: ○ S in H2S Troposphere ○ O in H2O ○ N in NH3 ○ C in CH4 ● Hydrocarbons, CO and HCN Stratosphere Atmospheric Structure PRESSURE The locations and densities of the various cloud layers in the atmosphere of Neptune. de Pater et al. (1991) Atmospheric Dynamics Sromovsky et al., 2001 ● Large dispersion of zonal wind speeds & cloud features ● Wind velocity at different altitudes has not measured yet ● Cloud activity + heat excess => convection (not yet proven) ● Potentially new Great Dark Spot Planetographic latitude [deg] (GDS), smaller dark spot (DS2) ? ZONAL VELOCITY [m/s] Triton ● Neptune's largest moon (d=2700 km) ● Retrograde orbit (~ 6 day period) ● Possible Kuiper Belt Object (Agnor and Hamilton, 2006) ● Mixture of rock and ice ● Triton seems to be geologically active Magnetosphere ● Complete magnetosphere reconfiguration in every planetary rotation ● No stable particle trapping expected (Paranicas et al., 1990) ● Triton as a source & sink in the magnetosphere (Krimigis et al., 1990; Richardson and McNutt 1990) (Bagenal, 1992) Radio Emissions (NKR) ● What do we know from radio spectra measured by Voyager 2? 1) Rotation period of Neptune 2) First evidence for Neptunian magnetic field ● What will be added by our measurements? 1) Determination of location and source 2) More exact value for rotation period 3) Connection to Exoplanets Satellites and Ring system ● Clumpy ring structure caused by small moons (Salo and Hänninen, 1998). ● The Liberté arc might disappear within a decade (Pater et al.,2005). (Wikimedia Commons) (NASA Press Release #PIA02202) Outline ● Science Case ● Objectives & Requirements ● Payload ● Mission trade study & design ● System design ● Ground Segment Science Objectives & Requirements 1.1 To characterize the atmosphere of Neptune a. Bulk composition Requirements Objective Measure elemental abundances of C, N, O, S and noble gases Constrain P < 50 bar, m/dm>3000 at 1% peak height, absolute planetary accuracy 10% formation Measure isotopic ratios D/H models Instruments Reflectron time-of-flight (RTOF, probe) Science Objectives & Requirements 1.1 To characterize the atmosphere of Neptune a. Chemistry Requirements Objective Observe hydrocarbons in stratosphere & disequilibrium species in troposphere (e.g. CO, Photochemistry PH3,GeH4) & Convection absorption lines of PH3 (20-100 cm^-1;FAR-IR & MID-IR), GeH4 (2-17 um; FAR-IR & MID-IR), with a spectral resolution of 0.5-20 cm^-1. Instruments Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) Science Objectives & Requirements 1.1 To characterize the atmosphere of Neptune b. structure and dynamics Requirements Determine the pressure & temperature profile up to min 50 bars, Objective with 1% accuracy on pressure and 0.01 mbar resolution and, with 0.5 K accuracy on temperature and 0.02 K resolution. Structure Instruments Pressure Sensor (PS, probe) Temperature Sensor (TS, probe) Science Objectives & Requirements 1.1 To characterize the atmosphere of Neptune b. structure and dynamics Requirements Measure the wind velocities & zonal wind speeds Objective troposphere and the stratosphere (at least 10 bars), with an accuracy of 1 m/s and a resolution of 0.1 m/s Dynamics Instruments Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE, probe) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) Science Objectives & Requirements 1.2 To characterize the interior of Neptune Requirements Objective Determine the J2 & J4 gravity field Understand ice component range-rate accuracy in the range of 0.015 giants formation mm/s and 0.1 mm/s at 60 sec integration time and evolution processes Instruments X Ka Transponder (RSI) Science Objectives & Requirements 2.1 To investigate the interior structure of Triton Requirements Objective Determine the J2 gravity field component range-rate accuracy in the range of 0.015 Is Triton mm/s and 0.1 mm/s at 60 sec integration time differentiated? Determine ocean induced magnetic field? Does it have a Instruments subsurface ocean? X Ka Transponder (RSI) Magnetometer (FGM) Science Objectives & Requirements 2.2 To investigate Triton's atmospheric composition Requirements Observe a stellar occultation Objective with 0.01°/s stability within 1 sigma accuracy Observe a solar occultation Atmospheric with 0.1°/s stability within 2 sigma accuracy composition Instruments UV Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS) Science Objectives & Requirements 2.3 To investigate Triton's geological activity (N2 geysers) Requirements Image the surface Objective global spatial resolution of 100m local interests at 10m/pix resolution Characterise Triton's Surface Instruments Features Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), Wide Angle Camera (WAC) Science Objectives & Requirements 3. To improve our current understanding of the magnetosphere Requirements Measure the magnetic field vectors Objective +/- 16384nT/magnetic component, 0.2 nT resolution, |min value|: 0.1 nT Magnetospheric Configuration Instruments Magnetometer (FGM) Science Objectives & Requirements 3. To improve our current understanding of the magnetosphere Requirements Characterize the plasma content in Objective the magnetosphere and interplanetary medium Plasma Transport E: 1eV - 5 MeV Sources & Sinks in magnetosphere Instruments Plasma Spectrometers, (HPS, MPS) Langmuir Probe (LAP) Science Objectives & Requirements 3. To improve our current understanding of the magnetosphere Requirements Objective Measure the possible auroral radio emissions Insight on the radio emission generation, its sources and location Instruments Radio & Plasma Wave experiment (RPW) Outline ● Science Case ● Objectives & Requirements ● Payload ● Mission trade study & design ● System design ● Ground Segment Imaging Instruments & Spectrometers ● Camera: ● Narrow angle camera (NAC) 350-1050 nm ● Wide angle camera (WAC) 350-1050 nm ● Spectrometer ● UV Imaging Spectrometer (50-320 nm) ● VIR Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometer (0.4-5.2 µm) ● Composite IR Spectrometer (MID, FIR, 7-1000µm) Environmental instruments ● 2 Fluxgate magnetometers + 10m boom (MAG) ● Radio Plasma Wave Experiment (RPW) ● Extreme Low Frequency Radio (ELFR) ● Particle package (PP): ○ Electron Spectrometer (ELS) ○ Hot Plasma Spectrometer (HPS) ○ Medium Plasma Spectrometer (MPS) ○ Energetic-charged particle spectrometer (EPS) ○ Langmuir Probe (LAP) ● Dust Analyser (DA) Probe Instruments ● Probe measurements crucial for fulfillment of Neptune atmosphere science objectives. ○ Mass spectrometer (RTOF) ○ Very low frequency radio ○ Doppler wind experiment (DWE) ○ Electric field sensor ○ Accelerometer ○ Pressure & temperature sensor Outline ● Science Case ● Objectives & Requirements ● Payload ● Mission trade study & design ● System design ● Ground Segment Going to Neptune... ● Several trade-off options for transfer: ○ Orbit vs. flyby ○ Slow vs. fast (11, 13, 22 years) ○ Ariane vs. Soyuz ● Dry mass in orbit/flyby: Flyby with Flyby with Orbiter with Orbiter with Time-of-flight Soyuz [kg] Ariane 5 [kg] Soyuz [kg] Ariane 5 [kg] [years] 483_ 1788_ 148_ 554_ 11_ 1028_ 3798_ 543_ 2020_ 22_ 679_ 2481_ 182_ 670_ 13_ Comparing the options ● Selection driver is fulfillment of science objectives. ● Payload mass at Neptune must be compared. ● Orbiter options have greater propulsion system dry mass. ● Payload masses at Neptune (excluding probe): Flyby with Flyby with Orbiter with Orbiter with Time-of-flight Soyuz [kg] Ariane 5 [kg] Soyuz [kg] Ariane 5 [kg] [years] -16_ 86_ -45_ -48_ 11_ 21_ 257_ -9_ 79_ 22_ -3_ 143_ -43_ -40_ 13_ ● Soyuz transfer infeasible. ● Final trade-off: ○ Flyby in 13 years traded-off against orbiter in 22 years. Flyby vs orbiter in numbers Payload mass [kg] FLYBY option ORBITER option NAC 12 WAC 5.4 MAG (x2) + boom 23 CIRS 42 UVIS 2.6 PP 13.2 RPW 5.6 DA 6 ELFR 2.4 VIRHIS 20.4 Total 132 kg 80 kg Target 140 kg 80 kg Flyby vs orbiter in numbers Decision Weight Orbiter Flyby matrix Neptune 10.0 8.4 Triton 9.3 4.6 Magnetosphere 0.0 3.0 Science 60% 100 % 76 % Cost 7.0 10.0 Time-of-flight 5.0 10.0 Engineering 40% 60 % 100 % Global result 94 % 100 % Why a flyby? ● We can successfully fulfil our main science goals. ● We can achieve a more cost-efficient and faster mission than with an orbiter ● We have the chance to have a full, state-of-the-art instrument package onboard, as opposed to an orbiter. ● Flyby mitigates orbiter data rate bottleneck ● Allows for anchoring of ground-based observations Selected transfer ● 13.4