Concepts to utilize planetary analogue studies for icy moon exploration missions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc S. Boxberg ◽  
Fabian Baader ◽  
Leonardo Boledi ◽  
Qian Chen ◽  
Bernd Dachwald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle ◽  
Thermal Contact ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Icy Moons ◽  
Future Space ◽  
Contact Models ◽  
Trajectory Models

<p><span>The icy moons of our Solar System, such as the Saturnian moon Enceladus and the Jovian moon Europa, are scientifically highly interesting targets for future space missions, </span><span>since</span><span> they are potentially hosting extraterrestrial life in their oceans below an icy crust. Moreover, the exploration of these icy moons will enhance our understanding of the evolution of the Solar System. </span><span>For their eventual in-situ exploration, n</span><span>ovel technological solutions and simulations are necessary. This also includes model-based mission support to assist the development of future melting probes</span> <span>which comprise one option to </span><span>access the subglacial water</span><span>.</span></p><p><span>Since 2012, several national projects under the lead of the DLR Explorer Initiatives develop key technologies to enhance our capability for the in-situ exploration of ice and to sample englacial or subglacial water. In 2020, the DLR Space Administration started the TRIPLE project (Technologies for Rapid Ice Penetration and subglacial Lake Exploration). This project develops an integrated concept for a melting probe that launches an autonomous underwater vehicle (nanoAUV) into a </span><span>w</span><span>ater reservoir and an AstroBioLab for in-situ analysis. A</span><span>ll components are developed for terrestrial use while always having a future space mission </span><span>with</span><span> i</span><span>ts challenges i</span><span>n mind. A</span><span>s part of a second project stage, it is envisioned to build the TRIPLE sys</span><span>tem a</span><span>nd t</span><span>o access a subglacial la</span><span>ke in</span><span> Antarctica in 2026.</span></p><p><span>To deliver key parameters such as transit time and overall energy requirement, a virtual test bed for strategic mission planning is currently under development. This consists of the Ice Data Hub that combines available data from Earth </span><span>and</span><span> other planetary bod</span><span>ie</span><span>s</span><span> – measured or taken from the literature – and allows the </span><span>visualization</span><span>, interpretation and export of data, as well as trajectory models for the melting probe. We develop high-fidelity thermal contact models for the phase change as well as macroscopic trajectory models that consider the thermodynamic melting process and the convective loss of heat via the melt-water flow.</span></p><p><span>In this contribution, we </span><span>present</span><span> previous field test data obtained with the melting probe “EnEx-IceMole” from field deployments on temperate glaciers in the Alps and on Taylor Glacier in Antarctica </span><span>together </span><span>with the thermal contact models. </span><span>We explore the validity and accuracy of the models for different terrestrial environments and use the findings</span><span> to </span><span>predict the melting probe behaviour in</span> <span>extraterrestrial locations of</span><span> future space missions.</span></p>

scholarly journals Interstellar dust in the solar system: model versus in situ spacecraft data

2019 ◽  
Vol 626 ◽  
pp. A37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Krüger ◽  
Peter Strub ◽  
Nicolas Altobelli ◽  
Veerle J. Sterken ◽  
Ralf Srama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Charged Dust ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Spacecraft Data

Context. In the early 1990s, contemporary interstellar dust penetrating deep into the heliosphere was identified with the in situ dust detector on board the Ulysses spacecraft. Later on, interstellar dust was also identified in the data sets measured with dust instruments on board Galileo, Cassini, and Helios. Ulysses monitored the interstellar dust stream at high ecliptic latitudes for about 16 yr. The three other spacecraft data sets were obtained in the ecliptic plane and cover much shorter time intervals. Aims. To test the reliability of the model predictions, we compare previously published in situ interstellar dust measurements, obtained with these four spacecraft, with predictions of an advanced model for the dynamics of interstellar dust in the inner solar system (Interplanetary Meteoroid environment for EXploration; IMEX). Methods. Micrometer and sub-micrometer-sized dust particles are subject to solar gravity, radiation pressure and the Lorentz force on a charged dust particle moving through the interplanetary magnetic field. These forces lead to a complex size-dependent flow pattern of interstellar dust in the planetary system. The IMEX model was calibrated with the Ulysses interstellar dust measurements and includes these relevant forces. We study the time-resolved flux and mass distribution of interstellar dust in the solar system. Results. The IMEX model agrees with the spacecraft measurements within a factor of 2–3, including time intervals and spatial regions not covered by the original model calibration with the Ulysses data set. The model usually underestimates the dust fluxes measured by the space missions which were not used for the model calibration, i.e. Galileo, Cassini, and Helios. Conclusions. A unique time-dependent model, IMEX is designed to predict the interstellar dust fluxes and mass distributions for the inner and outer solar system. The model is suited to study dust detection conditions for past and future space missions.

scholarly journals Spectroscopic and spectrometric differentiation between abiotic and biogenic material on icy worlds

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S269) ◽  
pp. 165-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin P. Hand ◽  
Christopher P. McKay ◽  
Carl B. Pilcher
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Biochemical Pathway ◽  
Biological Origin ◽  
Icy Moons ◽  
Biogenic Material ◽  
Critical Task

AbstractThe ability to differentiate abiotic organic material from material of a biological origin is a critical task for astrobiology. Mass spectrometry and spectroscopy provide key tools for advancing this task and are two techniques that provide useful and highly complementary compositional information independent of a specific biochemical pathway. Here we address some of the utility and limitations of applying these techniques to both orbital and in situ exploration of icy moons of the outer solar system.

scholarly journals 2.1.1 In-Situ Records of Interplanetary Dust Particles - Methods and Results

1976 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 143-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Fechtig
Keyword(s):  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Measure Data ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Detection Techniques ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Future Space

AbstractA review is given on the techniques used to record and to quantitatively measure data of individual interplanetary dust particles. New developments in detection techniques are briefly discussed.The main results from recent space missions at about 1 AU and in the earth-moon neighborhood are discussed and compared with the flux results from lunar microcrater studies. Spatial anisotropies and time fluctuations are found indicating that the earth is exposed to two main micrometeoroid dust populations: the “apex”-population and the B-meteoroids. The near planet-dust enrichments measured by HEOS 2 near the earth and by the Pioneer 10/11 near Jupiter are emphasized. The experimental data strongly suggest a fragmentation process associated with the earth. The role of the moon as a dust source is discussed. The important problems in the dust field for future space missions are summarized.

scholarly journals Rosetta CONSERT Data as a Testbed for In Situ Navigation of Space Probes and Radiosciences in Orbit/Escort Phases for Small Bodies of the Solar System

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 3747
Author(s):  
Mao Ye ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
Jianguo Yan ◽  
Alain Hérique ◽  
Wlodek Kofman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Observation Time ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Tracking Station ◽  
Future Space ◽  
Comet 67P

Many future space missions to asteroids and comets will implement autonomous or near-autonomous navigation, in order to save costly observation time from Earth tracking stations, improve the security of spacecraft and perform real-time operations. Existing Earth-Spacecraft-Earth tracking modes rely on severely limited Earth tracking station resources, with back-and-forth delays of up to several hours. In this paper, we investigate the use of CONSERT ranging data acquired in direct visibility between the lander Philae and the Rosetta orbiter, in the frame of the ESA space mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as a proxy of autonomous navigation and orbitography science capability.

Chirality and the origin of life: In situ enantiomeric separation for future space missions

Chirality ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 527-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Rodier ◽  
C. Laurent ◽  
C. Szopa ◽  
R. Sternberg ◽  
F. Raulin
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Enantiomeric Separation ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Future Space ◽  
The Origin Of Life

Laboratory and in-situ analysis of comet dust

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
A.L. Albee
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Cometary Material ◽  
Comet Dust

Comets are primitive, kilometer-sized bodies that formed in the outer regions of the solar system. Composed of ice and dust, comets are generally believed to be relic building blocks of the outer solar system that have been preserved at cryogenic temperatures since the formation of the Sun and planets. The analysis of cometary material is particularly important because the properties of cometary material provide direct information on the processes and environments that formed and influenced solid matter both in the early solar system and in the interstellar environments that preceded it.The first direct analyses of proven comet dust were made during the Soviet and European spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley in 1986. These missions carried time-of-flight mass spectrometers that measured mass spectra of individual micron and smaller particles. The Halley measurements were semi-quantitative but they showed that comet dust is a complex fine-grained mixture of silicates and organic material. A full understanding of comet dust will require detailed morphological, mineralogical, elemental and isotopic analysis at the finest possible scale. Electron microscopy and related microbeam techniques will play key roles in the analysis. The present and future of electron microscopy of comet samples involves laboratory study of micrometeorites collected in the stratosphere, in-situ SEM analysis of particles collected at a comet and laboratory study of samples collected from a comet and returned to the Earth for detailed study.

Hetero-Epitaxy of Group Va Metals on Sapphire

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 492-493
Author(s):  
J. E. O'Neal ◽  
J. J. Bellina ◽  
B. B. Rath
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Contact ◽  
High Vacuum ◽  
Electron Beam Evaporation ◽  
Ultra High Vacuum ◽  
Backing Plate ◽  
Sapphire Substrates ◽  
Deposition Parameters ◽  
Polishing Damage ◽  
Reflection Electron Diffraction

Thin films of the bcc metals vanadium, niobium and tantalum were epitaxially grown on (0001) and sapphire substrates. Prior to deposition, the mechanical polishing damage on the substrates was removed by an in-situ etch. The metal films were deposited by electron-beam evaporation in ultra-high vacuum. The substrates were heated by thermal contact with an electron-bombarded backing plate. The deposition parameters are summarized in Table 1.The films were replicated and examined by electron microscopy and their crystallographic orientation and texture were determined by reflection electron diffraction. Verneuil-grown and Czochralskigrown sapphire substrates of both orientations were employed for each evaporation. The orientation of the metal deposit was not affected by either increasing the density of sub-grain boundaries by about a factor of ten or decreasing the deposition rate by a factor of two. The results on growth epitaxy are summarized in Tables 2 and 3.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document