scholarly journals GAUSS - A Sample Return Mission to Ceres

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian Shi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dawn Mission ◽  
History Of ◽  
System 2 ◽  
Sample Return Mission ◽  
And Migration

<p>Ceres, the largest resident in the main asteroid belt and the innermost dwarf planet of the solar system, shares characteristics with a broad diversity of solar system objects, making it one of the most intriguing targets for planetary exploration. The recently completed Dawn mission through its 3.5 years of in-orbit investigation has furthered our understanding of Ceres, yet at the same time opened up more questions. Remote sensing data revealed that Ceres is rich in volatiles and organics, with fresh traces of cryovolcanic and geothermal activities. There is potential evidence of Ceres’ past and present habitability. Findings by Dawn suggest that Ceres might once be an ocean world and have undergone more complicated evolution than originally expected. Thus, Ceres encapsulates key information for understanding the history of our solar system and the origin of life, which has yet to be explored by future missions.</p><p>We present the GAUSS project (Genesis of Asteroids and EvolUtion of the Solar System), recently proposed as a white paper to ESA’s Voyage 2050 program. GAUSS is a mission concept of future exploration of Ceres with sample return as the primary goal. It aims to address the following top-level scientific questions concerning: 1) the origin and migration of Ceres and its implications on the water and volatile distribution and transfer in the inner solar system; 2) the internal structure and evolution of Ceres; 3) Ceres’ past and present-day habitability; and 4) mineralogical connections between Ceres and collections of primitive meteorites. We will discuss scientific objectives of Ceres exploration in post-Dawn era as well as instrumentation required for achieving them. We will explore candidate landing and sampling sites of high scientific interest based on Dawn results. We will also consider technical and financial feasibility of different mission scenarios in the context of broad international collaboration.</p>

scholarly journals Exploring the Bimodal Solar System via Sample Return from the Main Asteroid Belt: The Case for Revisiting Ceres

2020 ◽  
Vol 216 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Burbine ◽  
Richard C. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Main Belt ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dawn Mission ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence ◽  
Sample Return Mission ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Cost Implications

Abstract Sample return from a main-belt asteroid has not yet been attempted, but appears technologically feasible. While the cost implications are significant, the scientific case for such a mission appears overwhelming. As suggested by the “Grand Tack” model, the structure of the main belt was likely forged during the earliest stages of Solar System evolution in response to migration of the giant planets. Returning samples from the main belt has the potential to test such planet migration models and the related geochemical and isotopic concept of a bimodal Solar System. Isotopic studies demonstrate distinct compositional differences between samples believed to be derived from the outer Solar System (CC or carbonaceous chondrite group) and those that are thought to be derived from the inner Solar System (NC or non-carbonaceous group). These two groups are separated on relevant isotopic variation diagrams by a clear compositional gap. The interface between these two regions appears to be broadly coincident with the present location of the asteroid belt, which contains material derived from both groups. The Hayabusa mission to near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (25143) Itokawa has shown what can be learned from a sample-return mission to an asteroid, even with a very small amount of sample. One scenario for main-belt sample return involves a spacecraft launching a projectile that strikes an object and flying through the debris cloud, which would potentially allow multiple bodies to be sampled if a number of projectiles are used on different asteroids. Another scenario is the more traditional method of landing on an asteroid to obtain the sample. A significant range of main-belt asteroids are available as targets for a sample-return mission and such a mission would represent a first step in mineralogically and isotopically mapping the asteroid belt. We argue that a sample-return mission to the asteroid belt does not necessarily have to return material from both the NC and CC groups to viably test the bimodal Solar System paradigm, as material from the NC group is already abundantly available for study. Instead, there is overwhelming evidence that we have a very incomplete suite of CC-related samples. Based on our analysis, we advocate a dedicated sample-return mission to the dwarf planet (1) Ceres as the best means of further exploring inherent Solar System variation. Ceres is an ice-rich world that may be a displaced trans-Neptunian object. We almost certainly do not have any meteorites that closely resemble material that would be brought back from Ceres. The rich heritage of data acquired by the Dawn mission makes a sample-return mission from Ceres logistically feasible at a realistic cost. No other potential main-belt target is capable of providing as much insight into the early Solar System as Ceres. Such a mission should be given the highest priority by the international scientific community.

GAUSS: Towards Sample Return from Dwarf Planet Ceres

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian Shi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dawn Mission ◽  
Dwarf Planets ◽  
Geological Features ◽  
History Of ◽  
Physical And Chemical

<p>GAUSS (Genesis of Asteroids and EvolUtion of the Solar System) is a mission concept for the future exploration of Ceres. As both the largest resident of the main asteroid belt and the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System, Ceres holds critical information for probing the evolution and habitability of our Solar System. NASA’s DAWN mission performed the by far most comprehensive investigation of Ceres during its over three year in-orbit operation around this unique world. Data collected by remote sensing instruments revealed an amazingly diverse landscape comprising different types of geological features. Beneath its volatile- and organic-rich surface, Ceres might have once possessed a global ocean, the remnants of which possibly still exist today as pockets of brine between the mantle and the crust. Hydrothermal activities that took place in recent geological time transferred materials deep inside Ceres to its surface, forming several outstanding surface features that are optimal for future sampling. Similar processes could occur on other ocean worlds in the Solar System, making Ceres a benchmark case for studying the evolution and habitability of these objects in general.</p> <p>To fully understand the physical and chemical evolution of Ceres, high resolution analyses of samples are necessary. With cryogenic sample return as its final step, the GAUSS project aims to answer the following key questions:</p> <ul> <li>What is the origin of Ceres and the origin and transfer of water and other volatiles in the inner solar system?</li> <li>What are the physical properties and internal structure of Ceres? What do they tell us about the evolutionary and aqueous alteration history of icy dwarf planets?</li> <li>What are the astrobiological implications of Ceres? Was it habitable in the past and is it still today?</li> <li>What are the mineralogical connections between Ceres and our current collections of primitive meteorites?</li> </ul>

scholarly journals Hypervelocity Capture of Meteoroids in Aerogel

1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 237-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Tsou
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Solar Nebula ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Laboratory Analysis ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Processing History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sample Return Mission ◽  
Solar System Exploration

Micrometeoroids of cometary or asteroidal origin constitute a unique repository of information concerning the formation and subsequent processing history of materials in the solar nebula. One of the current goals of planetary science is to return samples from a known primitive extraterrestrial body for detailed laboratory analysis (NASA Solar System Exploration Committee, SSEC 1983). Planetary flyby orbital motions dictate that dust particles will approach the spacecraft at relative speeds up to tens of km/s. It has always been thought that these hypervelocity particles could not be captured without melting or vaporizing. We have developed the intact capture technology that enables flyby sample return of these hypervelocity particles. The STARDUST comet sample return mission, selected as the fourth NASA. Discovery mission, capitalizes on this technology (Brownlee et al. 1996).

scholarly journals A unique basaltic micrometeorite expands the inventory of solar system planetary crusts

2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (17) ◽  
pp. 6904-6909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Gounelle ◽  
Marc Chaussidon ◽  
Alessandro Morbidelli ◽  
Jean-Alix Barrat ◽  
Cécile Engrand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Solar System Formation ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dust Transport ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Transport Dynamics ◽  
Sample Return Mission

Micrometeorites with diameter ≈100–200 μm dominate the flux of extraterrestrial matter on Earth. The vast majority of micrometeorites are chemically, mineralogically, and isotopically related to carbonaceous chondrites, which amount to only 2.5% of meteorite falls. Here, we report the discovery of the first basaltic micrometeorite (MM40). This micrometeorite is unlike any other basalt known in the solar system as revealed by isotopic data, mineral chemistry, and trace element abundances. The discovery of a new basaltic asteroidal surface expands the solar system inventory of planetary crusts and underlines the importance of micrometeorites for sampling the asteroids' surfaces in a way complementary to meteorites, mainly because they do not suffer dynamical biases as meteorites do. The parent asteroid of MM40 has undergone extensive metamorphism, which ended no earlier than 7.9 Myr after solar system formation. Numerical simulations of dust transport dynamics suggest that MM40 might originate from one of the recently discovered basaltic asteroids that are not members of the Vesta family. The ability to retrieve such a wealth of information from this tiny (a few micrograms) sample is auspicious some years before the launch of a Mars sample return mission.

scholarly journals The Principle of Least Interaction Action

1974 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 489-489
Author(s):  
M. W. Ovenden
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Planetary System ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Correct Prediction ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Approximate Methods ◽  
Satellites Of Jupiter ◽  
History Of ◽  
Minimum Interaction

AbstractThe intuitive notion that a satellite system will change its configuration rapidly when the satellites come close together, and slowly when they are far apart, is generalized to ‘The Principle of Least Interaction Action’, viz. that such a system will most often be found in a configuration for which the time-mean of the action associated with the mutual interaction of the satellites is a minimum. The principle has been confirmed by numerical integration of simulated systems with large relative masses. The principle lead to the correct prediction of the preference, in the solar system, for nearly-commensurable periods. Approximate methods for calculating the evolution of an actual satellite system over periods ˜ 109 yr show that the satellite system of Uranus, the five major satellites of Jupiter, and the five planets of Barnard’s star recently discovered, are all found very close to their respective minimum interaction distributions. Applied to the planetary system of the Sun, the principle requires that there was once a planet of mass ˜ 90 Mθ in the asteroid belt, which ‘disappeared’ relatively recently in the history of the solar system.

scholarly journals Morpholithodynamics of lagoonal straits of the North-Eastern Sakhalin

2019 ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
V. V. Afanasev
Keyword(s):  
Additional Data ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Water Area ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Geological Information ◽  
History Of ◽  
Three Dimensional Models ◽  
And Migration

The results of the analysis of geospatial and geological information on the structure and dynamics of the lagoon coast of the North-Eastern Sakhalin are presented. On the basis of a number of parameters of the coastal erosion-accumulation processes and migration of lagoon straits during the period 1927–2014. the morpholithodynamics system of the North-Eastern Sakhalin was considered. The volume of sediments transported during the migration of the straits, was estimated with the help of three-dimensional models, in which, parallel with time-averaged areas of erosion and accumulation, additional data were used, namely: bathymetry of the straits and adjacent water area, characteristics of the relief of the barrier forms and geological information obtained as a result of georadar survey and drilling. Georadar data, together with remote sensing data, have made it possible to create a model of sedimentation, which formed the basis for the analysis of the history of the coast formation beyond the period of observations. Currently, we can trace the situation as long as to the middle of the XIXth century.

Combining Experiments and Modelling to Understand the Role of Potential Sputtering by Solar Wind Ions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stefan Szabo ◽  
Herbert Biber ◽  
Noah Jäggi ◽  
Matthias Brenner ◽  
David Weichselbaum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Surface Composition ◽  
Space Weathering ◽  
Mineral Surfaces ◽  
Multiply Charged ◽  
History Of ◽  
System 2 ◽  
Sputtering Yields ◽  
Weathering Effects

<p>In the absence of a protecting atmosphere, the surfaces of rocky bodies in the solar system are affected by significant space weathering due to the exposure to the solar wind [1]. Fundamental knowledge of space weathering effects, such as optical changes of surfaces as well as the formation of an exosphere is essential for gaining insights into the history of planetary bodies in the solar system [2]. Primarily the exospheres of Mercury and Moon are presently of great interest and the interpretation of their formation processes relies on the understanding of all space weathering effects on mineral surfaces.</p><p>Sputtering of refractory elements by solar wind ions is one of the most important release processes. We investigate solar wind sputtering by measuring and modelling the sputtering of pyroxene samples as analogues for the surfaces of Mercury and Moon [3, 4]. These measurements with thin film samples on Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) substrates allow recording of sputtering yields in-situ and in real time [5]. For the simulation of kinetic sputtering from the ion-induced collision cascade we use the software SDTrimSP with adapted input parameters that consistently reproduce measured kinetic sputtering yields [4, 6].</p><p>This study focuses on investigating the potential sputtering of insulating samples by multiply charged ions [7]. Changes of these sputtering yields with fluence are compared to calculations with a model based on inputs from SDTrimSP simulations. This leads to a very good agreement with steady-state sputtering yields under the assumption that only O atoms are sputtered by the potential energy of the ions. The observed decreasing sputtering yields can be explained by a partial O depletion on the surface [4]. Based on these findings expected surface composition changes and sputtering yields under realistic solar wind conditions can be calculated. Our results are in line with previous investigations (see e.g. [8, 9]), creating a consistent view on solar wind sputtering effects from experiments to established modelling efforts.</p><p> </p><p><strong>References:</strong></p><p>[1]          B. Hapke, J. Geophys. Res.: Planets, <strong>106</strong>, 10039 (2001).</p><p>[2]          P. Wurz, et al., Icarus, <strong>191</strong>, 486 (2007).</p><p>[3]          P.S. Szabo, et al., Icarus, <strong>314</strong>, 98 (2018).</p><p>[4]          P.S. Szabo, et al., submitted to Astrophys. J. (2020).</p><p>[5]          G. Hayderer, et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum., <strong>70</strong>, 3696 (1999).</p><p>[6]          A. Mutzke, et al., “SDTrimSP Version 6.00“, IPP Report, (2019).</p><p>[7]          F. Aumayr, H. Winter, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A, <strong>362</strong>, 77 (2004).</p><p>[8]          H. Hijazi, et al., J. Geophys. Res.: Planets, <strong>122</strong>, 1597 (2017).</p><p>[9]          S.T. Alnussirat, et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, <strong>420</strong>, 33 (2018).</p>

scholarly journals STARDUST: Comet and Interstellar Dust Sample Return Mission

1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
D. Burnett ◽  
B. Clark ◽  
M. S. Hanner ◽  
F. Horz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Dust Sample ◽  
Flux Monitor ◽  
Microporous Silica ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Cometary Dust ◽  
Dust Flux ◽  
Sample Return Mission

AbstractSTARDUST, a Discovery-class mission, will return intact samples of cometary dust and volatiles from comet P/Wild 2, as well as samples of the interstellar dust moving through the solar system. Dust capture utilizes aerogel, a microporous silica that is capable of intact capture of hypervelocity particles. A navigation camera, an in situ dust analyzer, and a dust flux monitor complete the payload. The Wild 2 flyby takes place in January 2004, with Earth return in January 2006.

Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis of Metal Phases in Meteorites

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 602-603
Author(s):  
D. B. Williams ◽  
J. I. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Heat Treatment ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Full Understanding ◽  
Beam Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Metal Phases

Meteorites are remnants of the primordial material from which the solar system condensed. Most meteorites originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and fell to earth when their orbits were disturbed by collisions. Metal phases are present in all types of meteorites and are alloys of Fe and Ni containing S and P. The study of metal meteorites has yielded valuable information about the early thermal history of the solar system, since their heat treatment has been preserved in the microstructure and microchemistry of the meteorites and can be discerned by electron microscopy and microanalysis. A full understanding of the structure and chemistry of meteorites requires detailed knowledge of the Fe-Ni, Fe-Ni-S and Fe-Ni-P phase diagrams and determination of these diagrams has been carried out over more than three decades of electron-beam analysis by the authors.

Astromaterials Research of Comet Wild 2: Terameters to Nanometers

MRS Bulletin ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Elemental Abundance ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Isotopic Abundance ◽  
Solar System Formation ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
X Ray ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cometary Material ◽  
Sample Return Mission

AbstractStardust, a NASA sample return mission, safely landed in the Utah desert in January 2006 after a seven-year mission, bringing with it the first cometary material from a known parent source, Comet 81P/Wild 2. One of the mission goals is to determine the starting material of the solar system. By sampling a comet, which has spent most of the past 4.6 Gyr beyond the orbit of Neptune, we expect to measure material presumed to be unaffected by the ignition of the sun. The Stardust spacecraft swept through the tail of the comet, collecting hundreds of micron-sized particles from that stream into aerogel, a low-density silica foam. An international team of materials scientists have studied the mineralogy, petrology, and elemental and isotopic abundance of these materials. Our group has studied elemental abundance using an x-ray microprobe; the morphology of the particles was examined using an x-ray microscope, which enables nanotomography of the particles while encased in aerogel. The unexpected conclusions are that much of the material from this comet was formed near the sun, after its ignition, and soon thereafter transported to the outer reaches of the solar system. These results have changed the way astrophysicists think about solar system formation.

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