Entry Probe Missions to the Giant Planets

Details Entry Probe Missions to the Giant Planets Entry Probe Missions to the Giant Planets

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p43a1429s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P43A-1429

Mathematics

Logic

[5704] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Atmospheres, [5709] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Composition, [5724] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Interiors, [5749] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Origin And Evolution

Scientific paper

The primary motivation for in situ probe missions to the outer planets derives from the need to constrain models of solar system formation and the origin and evolution of atmospheres, to provide a basis for comparative studies of the gas and ice giants, and to provide a valuable link to extrasolar planetary systems. As time capsules of the solar system, the gas and ice giants offer a laboratory to better understand the atmospheric chemistries, dynamics, and interiors of all the planets, including Earth; and it is within the atmospheres and interiors of the giant planets that material diagnostic of the epoch of formation can be found, providing clues to the local chemical and physical conditions existing at the time and location at which each planet formed. Measurements of current conditions and processes in those atmospheres inform us about their evolution since formation and into the future, providing information about our solar system’s evolution, and potentially establishing a framework for recognizing extrasolar giant planets in different stages of their evolution. Detailed explorations and comparative studies of the gas and ice giant planets will provide a foundation for understanding the integrated dynamic, physical, and chemical origins, formation, and evolution of the solar system. To allow reliable conclusions from comparative studies of gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, an entry probe mission to Saturn is needed to complement the Galileo Probe measurements at Jupiter. These measurements provide the basis for a significantly better understanding of gas giant formation in the context of solar system formation. A probe mission to either Uranus or Neptune will be needed for comparative studies of the gas giants and the ice giants, adding knowledge of ice giant origins and thus making further inroads in our understanding of solar system formation. Recognizing Jupiter’s spatial variability and the need to understand its implications for global composition, returning to Jupiter with a follow-on probe mission, possibly with technological advances allowing a multiple-probe mission, would make use of data from the Juno mission to guide entry location and measurement suite selection. This poster summarizes a white paper prepared for the Space Studies Board’s 2013-2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. It discusses specific measurements to be made by planetary probes at the giant planets, rationales and priorities for those measurements, and locations within the destination atmospheres where the measurements are best made.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Entry Probe Missions to the Giant Planets 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 Entry Probe Missions to the Giant Planets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Entry Probe Missions to the Giant Planets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1772251