TY - JOUR
T1 - A multi-lander New Frontiers mission concept study for Enceladus
T2 - SILENUS
AU - Nathan, Erica
AU - Balachandran, Katiyayni
AU - Cappuccio, Paolo
AU - Di, Julia
AU - Doerksen, Kelsey
AU - Gloder, Alessia
AU - Li, Monica
AU - Massarweh, Lotfi
AU - Peev, Thomas
AU - Santra, Shreya
AU - Rovira-Navarro, Marc
AU - Limonchik, Dan
N1 - Funding Information:
The initial work for this manuscript was conducted at the 2019 Caltech Space Challenge, sponsored by the Aerospace Corporation, the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Keck Institute for Space Studies, Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Moore-Hufstedler Fund for Student Life at Caltech, and the Northrop Grumman Corporation. The funding for publication fees was provided by the Caltech Space Challenge.
Funding Information:
The initial work for this manuscript was conducted at the 2019 Caltech Space Challenge, sponsored by the Aerospace Corporation, the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Keck Institute for Space Studies, Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Moore-Hufstedler Fund for Student Life at Caltech, and the Northrop Grumman Corporation. The funding for publication fees was provided by the Caltech Space Challenge.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Nathan, Balachandran, Cappuccio, Di, Doerksen, Gloder, Li, Massarweh, Peev, Santra, Rovira-Navarro and Limonchik.
PY - 2022/10/14
Y1 - 2022/10/14
N2 - Enceladus, with its subsurface ocean, is amongst the top priority targets in the search for life beyond Earth. Following on discoveries from the Cassini mission that Enceladus possesses a global subsurface ocean containing salt and organic compounds, there are many unconstrained properties of the ocean and ice shell that must be investigated to further assess the habitability of Enceladus and begin the search for biosignatures on Enceladus. In this paper, we present a concept study for a New Frontiers class multi-lander and orbiter mission to Enceladus that investigates if there is or ever was a habitable environment on Enceladus. The mission architecture includes an orbiter for detailed chemical analysis of material erupted from Enceladus’ plumes and four impact landers for geophysical measurements. As part of our mission concept study, we explore key trades for orbital and surface science, as well as assess the scientific potential and hazards of candidate landing sites on Enceladus. The novelty of our mission architecture and consideration of both orbital and surface science elements makes this work directly relevant to a broad range of potential future mission architectures under consideration, such as those identified in the 2023–2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey.
AB - Enceladus, with its subsurface ocean, is amongst the top priority targets in the search for life beyond Earth. Following on discoveries from the Cassini mission that Enceladus possesses a global subsurface ocean containing salt and organic compounds, there are many unconstrained properties of the ocean and ice shell that must be investigated to further assess the habitability of Enceladus and begin the search for biosignatures on Enceladus. In this paper, we present a concept study for a New Frontiers class multi-lander and orbiter mission to Enceladus that investigates if there is or ever was a habitable environment on Enceladus. The mission architecture includes an orbiter for detailed chemical analysis of material erupted from Enceladus’ plumes and four impact landers for geophysical measurements. As part of our mission concept study, we explore key trades for orbital and surface science, as well as assess the scientific potential and hazards of candidate landing sites on Enceladus. The novelty of our mission architecture and consideration of both orbital and surface science elements makes this work directly relevant to a broad range of potential future mission architectures under consideration, such as those identified in the 2023–2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey.
KW - astrobiology
KW - Enceladus
KW - habitability
KW - icy moons
KW - mission concept
KW - planetary science
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140891539&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85140891539&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fspas.2022.995941
DO - 10.3389/fspas.2022.995941
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85140891539
SN - 2296-987X
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
JF - Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
M1 - 995941
ER -