ORIGO: A mission concept to challenge planetesimal formation theories

Comets are generally considered among the most pristine objects in our Solar System. There have thus been significant efforts to understand these bodies. During the past decades, we have seen significant progress in our theoretical understanding of planetesimal/cometesimals (the precursors of comets) formation. Recent space missions—such as ESA’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko—have provided observations claimed by proponents of different comet formation theories to validate their scenarios. Yet, no single formation paradigm could be definitively proven. Given the importance of understanding how the first bodies in our Solar System formed, we propose a dedicated mission to address this issue. ORIGO will deliver a lander to the surface of a cometary nucleus where it will characterise the first five m of the subsurface. With remote sensing instruments and the deployment of payload into a borehole, we will be able to study the physico-chemical structure of ancient, unmodified material. The mission has been designed to fit into the ESA M-class mission budget

Origo - an ESA M-class mission proposal to challenge planetesimal formation theories.

The Origo mission was submitted in response to the 2021 call for a Medium-size mission opportunity in ESA's Science Programme.The goal of Origo is to inform and challenge planetesimal formation theories. Understanding how planetesimals form in protoplanetary disks is arguably one of the biggest open questions in planetary science. To this end, it is indispensable to collect ground truths about the physico-chemical structure of the most pristine and undisturbed material available in our Solar System. Origo seeks to resolve the question of whether this icy material can still be found and thoroughly analysed in the sub-surface of comets.Specifically, Origo aims to address the following immediate science questions:Were cometesimals formed by distinct building blocks such as e.g. "pebbles", hierarchical sub-units, or fractal distributions? How did refractory and volatile materials come together during planetesimal growth e.g. did icy and refractory grains grow separately and come together later, or did refractory grains serve as condensation nuclei for volatiles? Did the building blocks of planetesimals all form in the vicinity of each other, or was there significant mixing of material within the protoplanetary disk? To answer these questions Origo will deliver a lander to a comet where we will characterise the first five meters of the subsurface with a combination of remote-sensing and payloads lowered into a borehole. Our instruments will examine the small scale physico-chemical structure. This approach will allow us to address the following objectives, each of which informs the respective science question: Reveal the existence of building blocks of a cometary nucleus from the (sub-)micron to metre scale by exploring unmodified material. Determine the physical structure of these building blocks, in particular, the size distribution of components and how refractory and volatile constituents are mixed and/or coupled. Characterise the composition of the building blocks by identifying and quantifying the major ices and refractory components. Over the past decade, significant theoretical advances have been achieved in working out possible planetesimal formation scenarios.The two leading hypotheses for how planetesimals formed from sub-micron dust and ice particles in the proto-planetary nebula can be classified into two groups:the hierarchical accretion of dust and ice grains to form planetesimals; and the growth of so-called pebbles, which are then brought to gentle gravitational collapse to form larger bodies by e.g. the streaming instability. These competing theories only have indirect proof from observations.Direct evidence, i.e. ground truths, about the building blocks of planetesimals remain hidden. Origo would challenge these theories by examining the physico-chemical structure of the most pristine material available in our Solar System. Though the proposal was not retained for step 2 we present our concept for community discussion

The NEO-MAPP Project, funded by the European Commission in support of the ESA Hera Mission

NEO-MAPP, a project funded by the H2020 program of the European Commission, stands for Near Earth Object Modelling And Payload for Protection and addresses the topic "Advanced research in Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and new payload technologies for planetary defence" (SU-SPACE-23-SEC-2019). In the frame of the NEO-MAPP project, the ESA Hera mission has been selected as prime reference scenario. Hera has been approved by the ESA Council at Ministerial Level, Space19+, in November 2019 for launch in 2024. The main goal of NEO-MAPP is to support the development and data analysis of NEO missions, as Hera. It will provide significant advances in our understanding of the response of NEOs to external forces (in particular a kinetic impact like the one demonstrated with the NASA DART mission in September 2022, or a close planetary approach), as well as in interpreting the 2 associated measurements by a spacecraft (e.g. those necessary for characterizing the physical and dynamical properties). The NEO-MAPP objectives, include: • Pushing the limits of numerical modelling of the response of NEOs to a kinetic impact, as well as of their physical and dynamical properties while maturing European modelling capabilities linked to planetary defence and NEO exploration. • Increasing the maturity of multiple spaceborne and landed European instruments directly related to planetary defence, while focusing on measurements of surface, shallow sub-surface and interior properties of NEOs. • Developing algorithms and simulators to prepare for close-proximity operations and payload data analyses and exploitation. • Developing innovative and synergetic measurement and data-analysis strategies that combine multiple payloads, to ensure optimal data exploitation for NEO missions. • Developing and validating robust GNC strategies and technologies enabling surface interaction and direct response measurements performed by CubeSat or small/micro-lander (μLander) architectures. Building on the expertise of NEO-MAPP consortium partners, who are directly involved in the Hera mission and, in some cases, also in other relevant missions (e.g., NASA OSIRIS-REx, JAXA Hayabusa2 or MMX), the NEO-MAPP consortium is in a perfect situation to further advance NEO scientific research and payload technologies. NEO MAPP is also dedicating considerable resources to developing important and innovative synergies between the sub-topics (modelling, instrument development and data analysis). Consequently, NEO-MAPP will provide significant advances in our understanding of NEOs while at the same time build upon and sustainably increase the expertise of European scientists and engineers in both planetary defence efforts and small-body exploration

Resumos em andamento - Educação

Resumos em andamento - Educaçã

Resumos em andamento - Educação

Resumos em andamento - Educaçã