Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.4521d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #45.21; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.1301
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
As part of the 2006 NASA JPL Planetary Science Summer School, we conducted a trade study of an innovative New Frontiers class mission concept that would measure essential elemental abundances in Saturn’s atmosphere. Characterizing the abundance of heavy elements (mass > 4He) and dynamical processes at depth in the outer planets is vital to understanding the origin and evolution of the Solar System and, consequentially, extra-solar systems (Atreya, S.K. et al., 2006). Comparing the heavy element abundance ratios among the Sun and outer planets is required to refine Solar System formation scenarios. Since water was presumably the primary carrier of heavy elements to the outer planets, quantifying the O/H ratio is critical to determining the enrichment factor of the gas giants’ composition with respect to solar values. Elemental abundance information, including water content, will be available for Jupiter following Juno’s primary mission completion in 2017, but comparable data for Saturn is not, and cannot be provided by the Cassini mission. There are no in situ measurements of Saturn to date. Water (hence O/H) abundance may only be accurately ascertained deep in Saturn’s well-mixed atmosphere, where high temperatures and pressures make in situ data collection challenging. Our mission design, proposed for a 2015 launch, consists of a fly-by spacecraft that would release two identical instrument-carrying probes into different locations in Saturn’s atmosphere. The probes would gather in situ measurements down to at least 10 bars, to characterize the atmospheric composition and dynamics, and would also measure the water content down to 100 bars using the remote sensing technique of microwave radiometry. Here we discuss the detailed mission design of the fly-by carrier spacecraft and the probes, illustrating the feasibility of our mission concept and the ground-breaking science and engineering that would ensue from a successful mission.
Aubrey Andrew
Balint T.
Bramall Nathan
Chereck A.
Dawson Olivia R.
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