Planetary Exploration Horizon 2061 Report, Chapter 3: From science questions to Solar System exploration

This chapter of the Planetary Exploration Horizon 2061 Report reviews the way the six key questions about planetary systems, from their origins to the way they work and their habitability, identified in chapter 1, can be addressed by means of solar system exploration, and how one can find partial answers to these six questions by flying to the different provinces to the solar system: terrestrial planets, giant planets, small bodies, and up to its interface with the local interstellar medium. It derives from this analysis a synthetic description of the most important space observations to be performed at the different solar system objects by future planetary exploration missions. These observation requirements illustrate the diversity of measurement techniques to be used as well as the diversity of destinations where these observations must be made. They constitute the base for the identification of the future planetary missions we need to fly by 2061, which are described in chapter 4. Q1- How well do we understand the diversity of planetary systems objects? Q2- How well do we understand the diversity of planetary system architectures? Q3- What are the origins and formation scenarios for planetary systems? Q4- How do planetary systems work? Q5- Do planetary systems host potential habitats? Q6- Where and how to search for life?Comment: 107 pages, 37 figures, Horizon 2061 is a science-driven, foresight exercise, for future scientific investigation

Exploring planets and asteroids with 6DoF sensors: Utopia and realism

A 6 degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) sensor, measuring three components of translational acceleration and three components of rotation rate, provides the full history of motion it is exposed to. In Earth sciences 6DoF sensors have shown great potential in exploring the interior of our planet and its seismic sources. In space sciences, apart from navigation, 6DoF sensors are, up to now, only rarely used to answer scientific questions. As a first step of establishing 6DoF motion sensing deeper into space sciences, this article describes novel scientific approaches based on 6DoF motion sensing with substantial potential for constraining the interior structure of planetary objects and asteroids. Therefore we estimate 6DoF-signal levels that originate from lander–surface interactions during landing and touchdown, from a body’s rotational dynamics as well as from seismic ground motions. We discuss these signals for an exemplary set of target bodies including Dimorphos, Phobos, Europa, the Earth’s Moon and Mars and compare those to self-noise levels of state-of-the-art sensors

Sensitivity of Triton gravity field of different radio science experiment configurations

The ideal conditions for RS measurements require an optimization of the communications and tracking systems, the spacecraft trajectories and mission operations for RS investigation. However, these ideal conditions are rarely achieved because of the several trades off that should be made with many other mission and science requirements. This is particularly true for missions in the Neptune system where the identified scientific goals are broad and varied

Exploring planets and asteroids with 6DoF sensors: Utopia and realism

A 6 degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) sensor, measuring three components of translational acceleration and three components of rotation rate, provides the full history of motion it is exposed to. In Earth sciences 6DoF sensors have shown great potential in exploring the interior of our planet and its seismic sources. In space sciences, apart from navigation, 6DoF sensors are, up to now, only rarely used to answer scientific questions. As a first step of establishing 6DoF motion sensing deeper into space sciences, this article describes novel scientific approaches based on 6DoF motion sensing with substantial potential for constraining the interior structure of planetary objects and asteroids. Therefore we estimate 6DoF-signal levels that originate from lander–surface interactions during landing and touchdown, from a body’s rotational dynamics as well as from seismic ground motions. We discuss these signals for an exemplary set of target bodies including Dimorphos, Phobos, Europa, the Earth’s Moon and Mars and compare those to self-noise levels of state-of-the-art sensors.Horizon 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007601Projekt DEA

From science questions to Solar System exploration

This chapter reviews the way the six key questions about planetary systems, from their origins to the way they work and their habitability, identified in Chapter 1 (Blanc et al., 2021), can be addressed by means of solar system exploration, and how one can find partial answers to these six questions by flying to the different provinces to the solar system: terrestrial planets, giant planets, small bodies, and up to its interface with the local interstellar medium. It derives from this analysis a synthetic description of the most important space observations to be performed at the different solar system objects by future planetary exploration missions. These “observation requirements” illustrate the diversity of measurement techniques to be used as well as the diversity of destinations where these observations must be made. They constitute the base for the identification of the future planetary missions we need to fly by 2061, which are described in Chapter 4

From science questions to Solar System exploration

This chapter reviews the way the six key questions about planetary systems, from their origins to the way they work and their habitability, identified in Chapter 1 (Blanc et al., 2021), can be addressed by means of solar system exploration, and how one can find partial answers to these six questions by flying to the different provinces to the solar system: terrestrial planets, giant planets, small bodies, and up to its interface with the local interstellar medium. It derives from this analysis a synthetic description of the most important space observations to be performed at the different solar system objects by future planetary exploration missions. These “observation requirements” illustrate the diversity of measurement techniques to be used as well as the diversity of destinations where these observations must be made. They constitute the base for the identification of the future planetary missions we need to fly by 2061, which are described in Chapter 4