New report lays out roadmap for future Solar System exploration

Mysterious, icy worlds in our solar system should be a priority for exploration going forward, according to a new report published Tuesday.

The Decennial Planetary Survey recommends the first dedicated Uranus Orbiter and Probe as NASA’s next major mission.

The spacecraft would carry out an orbital tour of the ice giant during flybys and deliver a probe to explore the seventh planet’s atmosphere from the Sun. And a launch in 2031 or 2032 “is feasible,” according to the report’s authors.

Searching for evidence of life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus should be NASA’s second priority, according to the report.

Enceladus contains a liquid ocean beneath an icy crust, and the Enceladus Orbilander would orbit the moon and land on the surface, studying plumes of water rising through cracks in the ice shell.

The research, produced by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, also identifies other scientific priorities for the next decade, including planetary defense against near-Earth objects, a new approach to studying Mars and exploring and sampling other worlds.

This report differs from the decennial Astro2020 survey released in November, which is more focused on unlocking the secrets of the universe and identifying worlds outside our Solar System.

“The report presents an ambitious but actionable vision for advancing the frontiers of planetary science, astrobiology and planetary defense over the next decade,” said Robin Canup, assistant vice president, Directorate of Planetary Sciences at the Southwest Research Institute, and co-author chairman of the National Academies Steering Committee for the Decennial Research, in a statement.

under the ice

The report’s authors see the Uranus Orbiter and Probe as a way to revolutionize astronomers’ knowledge of ice giants in general. Our solar system is home to two — Uranus and Neptune — both made of ice, methane and ammonia with a small rocky core.

Only one mission has previously flown by the two planets: NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. The rest of what scientists know about these distant planets has been collected using telescopes like Hubble.

But no mission has studied Uranus closely and in detail.

It’s a bit eccentric, turning sideways. It has 13 rings, 27 moons and a characteristic blue-green color of methane in its atmosphere. The planet does not have a true surface, as most of its composition is a swirling fluid.

Scientists are interested in learning about its atmospheric dynamics, complex magnetic field, and what led to the creation of its tilt and extreme rings. And some of the larger moons orbiting the planet could be ocean worlds.

The Uranus Orbiter and Probe can get more information about the origin, interior, atmosphere, moons and rings of the planet.

Meanwhile, planetary scientists have been hoping for years to pilot a spacecraft through the active plumes of gas and particles rising from Enceladus’ inner ocean. The Enceladus Orbilander could directly study whether the moon’s ocean is habitable.

The Enceladus mission would look for evidence of life and determine whether it could exist in the ocean world. If the mission were to launch later this decade, it would likely reach the distant Moon in the early 2050s.

There is also a suggestion for a separate mission that could conduct multiple flybys of Enceladus if Orbilander is not viable.

Other destinations

The report also recommends that NASA send missions to return samples from the dwarf planet Ceres, as well as the surface of a comet. The Ceres mission can assess whether the dwarf planet, which can be found in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is habitable.

Other missions on the list include a Venus explorer, a probe to fly through Saturn’s atmosphere and an orbiter around Saturn’s moon Titan.

Titan is of interest to researchers because its dense atmosphere harbors prebiotic molecules, which is a feature similar to how Earth’s atmosphere began before the emergence of life. The Titan mission would investigate whether the moon could harbor life.

The report suggests sending an orbiter and lander to one of the Centaurs, or small primitive icy bodies found between Jupiter and Neptune.

When it comes to Mars, the authors recommend continuing with the rover’s current program and multi-step mission to return Mars samples to Earth. But they also encourage the creation of the Mars Life Explorer, a mission that would search for existing life and determine whether it is possible that life exists on Mars today.

There is also a desire to ensure that scientific effort is maximized as humans return to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis program, collecting lunar samples and installing instruments on the surface that can reveal more about its history.

Understanding more about near-Earth objects, such as tracking and detecting space rocks that could pose a threat to Earth, is a clear priority.

The authors recommend that NASA develop and launch the NEO Surveyor, an infrared mission that could provide a better basis for modeling and predicting the motions of near-Earth objects. In turn, this information would help in the design of deflection missions.

Once NASA’s existing DART mission, or the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, and the NEO Surveyor provide data, the next steps would be a rapid-response reconnaissance mission to hit a near-Earth object between 50 to 100 meters away. diameter. These objects are most likely to cause mass destruction if they collide with Earth.

“This recommended portfolio of missions, high-priority research activities, and technology development will yield transformative advances in human knowledge and understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System, and the life and habitability of other bodies beyond Earth,” said Canup. .