Future Exploration of Titan and Enceladus

Details Future Exploration of Titan and Enceladus Future Exploration of Titan and Enceladus

May 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agusm.p11a..07m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2009, abstract #P11A-07

Physics

6280 Saturnian Satellites, 6281 Titan, 6297 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

The future exploration of Titan and Enceladus has become very important for the planetary community. The study conducted last year of the Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) led to an announcement in which ESA and NASA prioritized future OPF missions, stating that TSSM is planned after EJSM (for details see http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/). TSSM consists of a TSSM Orbiter that would carry two in situ elements: the Titan Montgolfiere hot air balloon and the Titan Lake Lander. The mission could launch in the 2023-2025 timeframe on a trajectory to arrive ~9 years later for a 4-year mission in the Saturn system. Soon after arrival at Saturn, the montgolfiere would be delivered to Titan to begin its mission of airborne, scientific observations of Titan from an altitude of about 10 km. The montgolfiere would have a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) power system and would be designed to last at least 6-12 months in Titan's atmosphere. With the predicted winds and weather, that would be sufficient to circumnavigate the globe! On a subsequent fly-by, the TSSM orbiter would release the Lake Lander on a trajectory toward Titan for a targeted entry. It would descend through the atmosphere making scientific measurements, much like Huygens did, and then land and float on one of Titan's seas. This would be its oceanographic phase, making a physical and chemical assessment of the sea. The Lake Lander would operate 8-10 hours until its batteries become depleted. Following the delivery of the in situ elements, the TSSM orbiter would explore the Saturn system via a 2-year tour that includes in situ sampling of Enceladus' plumes as well as Titan flybys. After the Saturn system tour, the TSSM orbiter would enter orbit around Titan for a global survey phase. Synergistic and coordinated observations would be carried out between the TSSM orbiter and the in situ elements. The scientific requirements were developed by the international TSSM Joint Science Definition Team (JSDT). The orbiter was NASA's responsibility while the in situ elements were designed by ESA. The engineering and flight operations aspects of TSSM were developed in a collaborative study, conducted by NASA and ESA engineering teams working on both sides of the Atlantic. This work has been conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The European part was conducted in ESA within the Cosmic Vision 1 plan. Copyright 2008 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Future Exploration of Titan and Enceladus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Future Exploration of Titan and Enceladus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Future Exploration of Titan and Enceladus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1107877