Enceladus, the tiny moon orbiting Saturn, has intrigued scientists through recent discoveries of unique surface features and a south‐pole geyser. These discoveries from the Cassini mission have increased the importance of Enceladus as a target for future missions. Upon the recommendation of the NASA Advisory Council Planetary Science Subcommittee and the Outer Planets Assessment Group, NASA Headquarters' Planetary Science Division commissioned a pre‐phase A study of Flagship missions to Enceladus. The trade space for this architecture study included single Enceladus flybys, Enceladus orbiters, Saturn orbiters that fly by Enceladus, landers, impactors and sample return missions. Technologies considered included solar electric propulsion systems and radioisotope power systems. Within this trade space, several promising concepts, including Saturn orbiters, Enceladus orbiters and landers, were developed.
Mission Concepts for Studying Enceladus
SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM‐STAIF 2008: 12th Conference on Thermophysics Applications in Microgravity; 1st Symposium on Space Resource Utilization; 25th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion; 6th Conference on Human/Robotic Technology and the Vision for Space Exploration; 6th Symposium on Space Colonization; 5th Symposium on New Frontiers and Future Concept ; 2008 ; Albuquerque (New Mexico)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 969 , 1 ; 388-395
2008-01-21
8 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English