Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p21a1346c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P21A-1346
Other
5210 Planetary Atmospheres, Clouds, And Hazes (0343), 5215 Origin Of Life, 5220 Hydrothermal Systems And Weathering On Other Planets, 5225 Early Environment Of Earth
Scientific paper
A mission to return to Titan after Cassini-Huygens is a high priority for exploration. Recent Cassini-Huygens discoveries have revolutionized our understanding of the Titan system, rich in organics, containing a vast subsurface ocean of liquid water, surface repositories of organic compounds, and having the energy sources necessary to drive chemical evolution. With these recent discoveries, interest in Titan as the next scientific target in the outer Solar System is strongly reinforced. Cassini's discovery of active geysers on Enceladus adds an important second target in the Saturn system. The mission concept consists of a NASA-provided orbiter and an ESA-provided probe/lander and a Montgolfiere. The mission would launch on an Atlas 551 around 2020, travelling to Saturn on an SEP gravity assist trajectory, and reaching Saturn about 9.5 years later. The flight system would go into orbit around Saturn for about 2 years. During the first Titan flyby, the orbiter would release the lander to target a large northern polar sea, Kraken Mare, and the balloon system to a mid latitude region. During the tour phase, TSSM will perform Saturn system and Enceladus science, with at least 5 Enceladus flybys. Instruments aboard the orbiter will map Titan's surface at 50 m resolution in the 5 micron window, provide a global data set of topography and sound the immediate subsurface, sample complex organics, provide detailed observations of the atmosphere, and quantify the interaction of Titan with the Saturn magnetosphere. A subset of the instruments would provide spectra, imaging, plume sampling and particles and fields data on Enceladus. Instruments aboard the balloon will acquire high resolution vistas of the surface of Titan as the balloon cruises at 10 km altitude, as well as make compositional measurements of the surface, detailed sounding of crustal layering, and chemical measurements of aerosols. A magnetometer, will permit sensitive detection of induced or intrinsic fields. The probe/lander will splash into a large northern sea and spend several hours floating during which direct chemical and physical sampling of the liquid would be undertaken. During its descent the probe would provide the first in situ profiling of the winter northern hemispheric atmosphere, distinctly different from the equatorial atmosphere where Huygens descended and the balloon will arrive. Radio science experiments should be capable of providing detailed information on Titan's tidal response, and hence its crustal rigidity and thickness.
Beauchamp Pierre
Coustenis Athena
Erd Ch.
Lebreton Jeremy
Lorenz Robert
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