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Enceladus Orbilander
The Enceladus Orbilander is a proposed NASA Large strategic science missions, Flagship mission to Saturn, Saturn's moon Enceladus. The Enceladus Orbilander would spend a year and a half orbiting Enceladus and sampling its Enceladus#South polar plumes, water plumes, which stretch into space, before landing on the surface for a two-year mission to study materials for evidence of life. The mission, with an estimated cost of $4.9 billion, could launch in the late 2030s on a Space Launch System or Falcon Heavy with a landing in the early 2050s. It was proposed in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey#2023–2032, Origins, Worlds, and Life, 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey as the second highest priority Flagship mission, after the Uranus Orbiter and Probe. Background At in diameter, Enceladus is the sixth largest moon of Saturn and the 19th largest in the Solar System. Enceladus has been visited and imaged in detail by three other probes: the twin Voyager program, Voyage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enceladus
Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn and the 18th-largest in the Solar System. It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It is covered by clean, freshly deposited snow hundreds of meters thick, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Solar System. Consequently, its surface temperature at noon reaches only , far colder than a light-absorbing body would be. Despite its small size, Enceladus has a wide variety of surface features, ranging from old, heavily cratered regions to young, tectonically deformed terrain. Enceladus was discovered on August 28, 1789, by William Herschel, but little was known about it until the two Voyager spacecraft, '' Voyager 1'' and '' Voyager 2'', flew by Saturn in 1980 and 1981. In 2005, the spacecraft '' Cassini'' started multiple close flybys of Enceladus, revealing its surface and environment in greater detail. In particular, ''Cassini'' discovered water-rich plumes venting fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voyager Program
The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two interstellar probes, ''Voyager 1'' and ''Voyager 2''. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment to explore the two gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and potentially also the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune—to Flyby (spaceflight), fly near them while collecting data for transmission back to Earth. After ''Voyager 1'' successfully completed its flyby of Saturn and its moon Titan (moon), Titan, it was decided to send ''Voyager 2'' on flybys of Uranus and Neptune. After the planetary flybys were complete, decisions were made to keep the probes in operation to explore Outer space, interstellar space and the outer regions of the Solar System. On 25 August 2012, data from ''Voyager 1'' indicated that it had entered interstellar space. On 5 November 2019, data from ''Voyager 2'' indicated that it also had entered interstellar space. On 4 November 2019, scientists reported that on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa (moon), Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft used a gravity assist from Mars on March 1, 2025, and it will use a gravity assist from Earth on December 3, 2026, before arriving at Europa in April 2030. The spacecraft will then perform a series of Flyby (spaceflight), flybys of Europa while orbiting Jupiter. Europa Clipper is designed to study evidence for a subsurface ocean underneath Europa's ice Crust (geology), crust, found by the Galileo (spacecraft), Galileo spacecraft which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. Plans to send a spacecraft to Europa were conceived with projects such as Europa Orbiter and Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, in which a spacecraft would be inserted into orbit around Europa. However, due to the effects of radiation from the magnetosphere of Jupiter in Europa orbit, it was decided that it woul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used in many different fields and is applied to pure samples as well as complex mixtures. A mass spectrum is a type of plot of the ion signal as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. These spectra are used to determine the elemental or isotopic signature of a sample, the masses of particles and of molecules, and to elucidate the chemical identity or structure of molecules and other chemical compounds. In a typical MS procedure, a sample, which may be solid, liquid, or gaseous, is ionization, ionized, for example by bombarding it with a Electron ionization, beam of electrons. This may cause some of the sample's molecules to break up into positively charged fragments or simply become positively charged without fragmenting. These ions (fragmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planetary Habitability
Planetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to Abiogenesis, develop and sustain an environment hospitable to life. Life may be abiogenesis, generated directly on a planet or satellite endogenously. Research suggests that life may also be transferred from one body to another, through a hypothetical process known as panspermia. Environments do not need to contain life to be considered habitable nor are accepted habitable zones (HZ) the only areas in which life might arise. As the existence of life beyond Earth is not known, planetary habitability is largely an extrapolation of conditions on Earth and the characteristics of the Sun and Solar System which appear favorable to life's flourishing. Of particular interest are those factors that have sustained complex, multicellular organisms on Earth and not just simpler, unicellular creatures. Research and theory in this regard is a component of a number of natural sciences, such as astronomy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exobiology
Astrobiology (also xenology or exobiology) is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe by investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events. As a discipline, astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may exist beyond Earth. Research in astrobiology comprises three main areas: the study of habitable environments in the Solar System and beyond, the search for planetary biosignatures of past or present extraterrestrial life, and the study of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. The field of astrobiology has its origins in the 20th century with the advent of space exploration and the discovery of exoplanets. Early astrobiology research focused on the search for extraterrestrial life and the study of the potential for life to exist on other planets. In the 1960s and 1970s, NASA began its astrobiology pursuits within the Viking pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA Large Strategic Science Missions
NASA's large strategic science missions or large strategic missions, formerly known as Flagship missions or Flagship-class missions, are the costliest and most capable NASA science spacecraft. Flagship missions exist within all four divisions of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD): the astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics and planetary science divisions. "Large" refers to the budget of each mission, typically the most expensive mission in the scientific discipline. Within the Astrophysics Division and the Planetary Science Division, the large strategic missions are usually in excess of US$1 billion. Within Earth Science Division and Heliophysics Division, the large strategic missions are usually in excess of US$500 million.Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Frontiers Program
The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ... with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns. NASA is encouraging both domestic and international scientists to submit mission proposals for the program. New Frontiers was built on the innovative approach used by the Discovery Program, Discovery and Explorer program, Explorer Programs of principal investigator-led missions. It is designed for medium-class missions that cannot be accomplished within the cost and time constraints of Discovery, but are not as large as Large Strategic Science Missions (Flagship missions). There are curren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enceladus Life Finder
Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a proposed astrobiology mission concept for a NASA spacecraft intended to assess the habitability of the internal aquatic ocean of Enceladus, which is Saturn's sixth-largest moon of at least 274 total moons, and seemingly similar in chemical makeup to comets. The spaceprobe would orbit Saturn and fly through Enceladus's geyser-like plumes multiple times. It would be powered by energy supplied from solar panels on the spacecraft. Overview The Enceladus Life Finder mission was first proposed in 2015 for Discovery Mission 13 funding, and then it was proposed in May 2017 to NASA's New Frontiers program Mission 4, but it was not selected. If selected at another future opportunity, the ELF mission would search for biosignature and biomolecules in the geysers of Enceladus. The south polar jets loft water, salts and organic molecules dozens of miles over the moon's surface from an underground regional ocean. The hypothesis is that the water is warme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enceladus Life Signatures And Habitability
Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability (ELSAH) is an astrobiology concept mission proposed in 2017 to NASA's New Frontiers program to send a spacecraft to Enceladus to search for biosignatures and assess its habitability. The Principal Investigator is Christopher P. McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center, and the managing NASA center is Goddard Space Flight Center. No details of the mission have been made public, but observers speculate that it would be a plume-sampling orbiter mission. Mike Wall. ''Space''. 17 September 2017. The two finalists, announced on 20 December 2017, are |
Lunar And Planetary Institute
The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is a scientific research institute dedicated to study of the Solar System, its formation, evolution, and current state. The Institute is part of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and is supported by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Located at 3600 Bay Area Boulevard in Houston, Texas, the Institute serves as a scientific forum attracting visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows, students, and resident experts; supports and serves the research community through newsletters, meetings, and other activities; collects and disseminates planetary data while facilitating the community's access to NASA astromaterials samples and facilities; engages and excites the public about space science; and invests in the development of future generations of scientists. The LPI sponsors and organizes several workshops and conferences throughout the year, including the Lunar and Pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discovery Program
The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers program, New Frontiers or Flagship Program, Flagship Programs. As a result, Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose. The Discovery Program was founded in 1990. Existing NASA programs had specified mission targets and objectives in advance, then sought bidders to construct and operate them. In contrast, Discovery missions are solicited through a call for proposals on any science topic and assessed through peer review. Selected missions are led by a scientist called the principal investigator (PI) and may include contributions from industry, universities or government laboratories. The Discovery Program also includes Missions of Opp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
