Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.2409s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #24.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.522
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Saturn's moon Enceladus is now one of the Solar System's most intriguing destinations for exploration as a result of Cassini-Huygens mission discoveries reported by a series of papers in Science, March 10 2006. Those papers describe a geologically active 'Tiger Stripe' region near Enceladus' south pole with cryovolcanic jets consisting primarily of water and water ice, and less abundant but nonetheless significant organic species. A possible shallow-subsurface reservoir of liquid water mixed with organics in this region makes it a prime target for future missions.
In response to these discoveries we studied the stability of orbits at Enceladus potentially useful for future science missions. We find and characterize stable and unstable orbits covering a wide range of altitudes and inclinations. Notably, we report several families of inclined stable orbits that provide global visibility enabling the remote sensing of the polar regions. Other families of near-polar unstable orbits enable in situ measurements of the cryovolcanic plumes. Flight through the plumes at Cassini's hypersonic flyby speeds raises concerns for spacecraft safety and perturbs the plume composition, but it is a low-risk and aerothermodynamically clean operation at Enceladus' low orbit speeds of <200; m/s.
The poster will describe the relative stability of various orbit geometries and relate those geometries to possible observations of the known geologically active region. The purpose of this poster is to inform those interested in formulating future Enceladus mission concepts of what geometries could be achieved with an Enceladus orbiter and to help them design missions that maximize science return.
Lam Thomas
Russell Ryan P.
Spilker Thomas Richard
Strange Nathan J.
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