Maximizing the value of Solar System data through Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructures

Planetary spatial data returned by spacecraft, including images and higher-order products such as mosaics, controlled basemaps, and digital elevation models (DEMs), are of critical importance to NASA, its commercial partners and other space agencies. Planetary spatial data are an essential component of basic scientific research and sustained planetary exploration and operations. The Planetary Data System (PDS) is performing the essential job of archiving and serving these data, mostly in raw or calibrated form, with less support for higher-order, more ready-to-use products. However, many planetary spatial data remain not readily accessible to and/or usable by the general science user because particular skills and tools are necessary to process and interpret them from the raw initial state. There is a critical need for planetary spatial data to be more accessible and usable to researchers and stakeholders. A Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure (PSDI) is a collection of data, tools, standards, policies, and the people that use and engage with them. A PSDI comprises an overarching support system for planetary spatial data. PSDIs (1) establish effective plans for data acquisition; (2) create and make available higher-order products; and (3) consider long-term planning for correct data acquisition, processing and serving (including funding). We recommend that Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructures be created for all bodies and key regions in the Solar System. NASA, with guidance from the planetary science community, should follow established data format standards to build foundational and framework products and use those to build and apply PDSIs to all bodies. Establishment of PSDIs is critical in the coming decade for several locations under active or imminent exploration, and for all others for future planning and current scientific analysis.Comment: 8 pages, 0 figures. White paper submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-203

AVIATR - Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance A Titan Airplane Mission Concept

We describe a mission concept for a stand-alone Titan airplane mission: Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance (AVIATR). With independent delivery and direct-to-Earth communications, AVIATR could contribute to Titan science either alone or as part of a sustained Titan Exploration Program. As a focused mission, AVIATR as we have envisioned it would concentrate on the science that an airplane can do best: exploration of Titan's global diversity. We focus on surface geology/hydrology and lower-atmospheric structure and dynamics. With a carefully chosen set of seven instruments-2 near-IR cameras, 1 near-IR spectrometer, a RADAR altimeter, an atmospheric structure suite, a haze sensor, and a raindrop detector-AVIATR could accomplish a significant subset of the scientific objectives of the aerial element of flagship studies. The AVIATR spacecraft stack is composed of a Space Vehicle (SV) for cruise, an Entry Vehicle (EV) for entry and descent, and the Air Vehicle (AV) to fly in Titan's atmosphere. Using an Earth-Jupiter gravity assist trajectory delivers the spacecraft to Titan in 7.5 years, after which the AVIATR AV would operate for a 1-Earth-year nominal mission. We propose a novel 'gravity battery' climb-then-glide strategy to store energy for optimal use during telecommunications sessions. We would optimize our science by using the flexibility of the airplane platform, generating context data and stereo pairs by flying and banking the AV instead of using gimbaled cameras. AVIATR would climb up to 14 km altitude and descend down to 3.5 km altitude once per Earth day, allowing for repeated atmospheric structure and wind measurements all over the globe. An initial Team-X run at JPL priced the AVIATR mission at FY10 $715M based on the rules stipulated in the recent Discovery announcement of opportunity. Hence we find that a standalone Titan airplane mission can achieve important science building on Cassini's discoveries and can likely do so within a New Frontiers budget

Recommendations for Addressing Priority Io Science in the Next Decade

Io is a priority destination for solar system exploration. The scope and importance of science questions at Io necessitates a broad portfolio of research and analysis, telescopic observations, and planetary missions - including a dedicated New Frontiers class Io mission

The Science Case for Io Exploration

Io is a priority destination for solar system exploration, as it is the best natural laboratory to study the intertwined processes of tidal heating, extreme volcanism, and atmosphere-magnetosphere interactions. Io exploration is relevant to understanding terrestrial worlds (including the early Earth), ocean worlds, and exoplanets across the cosmos

Formation and Evolution of Paterae on Jupiter's Moon Io

Paterae (volcano-tectonic depressions) are among the most prominent topographic features on Io. They are unique, yet in some aspects they resemble calderas known and studied on Earth, Mars, and Venus. They have steep walls, flat floors, and arcuate margins, typical of terrestrial and Martian basalt shield calderas. However, they are much larger (2 km - 202 km diameter, mean 42 km 3 km) and typically lack obvious shields. They are often angular in shape or are found adjacent to mountains, suggesting tectonic influences on their formation. A preferential clustering of paterae at the equatorial sub- and anti-jovian regions is likely a surface expression of tidal massaging and convection in the asthenosphere. Paterae adjacent to mountains have a mean diameter 14 km 9 km larger than that for all paterae, which may indicate paterae grow larger in the fractured crust near mountains. Nightside and eclipse observations of Pele Patera by the Cassini and Galileo spacecraft reveal that much of Pele’s visible thermal emission comes from lava fountains within a topographically confined lava body, most likely a lava lake. Multiple filter images provided color temperatures of 1500 80 K from Cassini ISS data, and 1420 100 K from Galileo SSI data. Hotspots found within paterae (79% of all hotspots) exhibit a wide range of thermal behaviors in global eclipse images. Some hotspots are similar to Pele, consistently bright and confined; others, such as Loki, brighten or dim between observations and move to different locations within their patera. A model for patera formation begins with heating and convection within a high-temperature, low-viscosity asthenosphere. Magma rises through the cold, dense lithosphere either as diapirs [for thermal softening of the lithosphere and sufficiently large diapirs (20 km - 40 km diameter, >5 km thickness)] or through dikes. Magma reaches zones of neutral buoyancy and forms magma chambers that feed eruptions. Collapse over high-level chambers results in patera formation, filling of the patera with lava to create a lava lake, or lateral spreading of the magma chamber and subsequent enlargement of the patera by consuming crustal materials

Quantitative Analysis of Terrestrial Caldera Shape and Applications in Planetary Geomorphology

Volcanism on rocky planets and moons can yield valuable insights into their composition, evolution, and heat regime. This study creates a model to determine characteristics of extraterrestrial volcanoes based on imagery, one of the most abundant resources for studying other planetary bodies. We found that of 56 measured calderas, 61% were correctly classified into compositional categories based on shape alone. These results indicate that this model can be applied to calderas on other planets and moons to help constrain characteristics of their volcanism