Saturn Swarm Study
Andrew Blocher, Dave Atkinson and Tony Freeman Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California InsBtute of Technology e-‐mail:
[email protected] © 2017 California InsBtute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged
Abstract
The Cassini Mission has made countless discoveries at Saturn furthering our knowledge of the Solar System formaBon and finding new ocean worlds that might have the possibility of supporBng life. But as the mission ends, quesBons remain and even more have risen. To answer these quesBons, JPL has proposed 3 mission concepts for the recent New Fron7ers opportunity. The concepts range from probing Saturn’s interior to exploring the ocean worlds of Titan and Enceladus. For future studies, NASA may consider proposals for Technology Demonstra7on Op7ons (TDOs) to accompany the primary New FronBers spacecraZ. Eight TDO concepts have been conceived that could accompany one of the primary spacecraZ to Saturn and perform unique and ground breaking science as well as demonstrate new technologies. In LEO, SmallSats and CubeSats have changed the exploraBon paradigm, offering a fast and low cost alternaBve to tradiBonal space vehicles. These small spacecraZ have spawned revoluBonizing industries and are performing cu]ng edge science. This new mission development philosophy has the potenBal to significantly change the economics of interplanetary exploraBon and a number of missions are in development that uBlize CubeSat class spacecraZ beyond Earth orbit, including NEAScout, Lunar Ice Cube and MarCo. The eight TDO concepts for exploring the Saturn system would take advantage of advances in Small/CubeSat technology, demonstraBng their ability to be used outside the tradiBonal confines of LEO. New technology and instruments would also be demonstrated for use in future missions. The TDOs would demonstrate the technologies while advancing scienBfic knowledge with invesBgaBons ranging from Venus atmospheric in situ measurements to close up examinaBon of Saturn’s rings, from stereo mapping of the south pole of Enceladus, to characterizing the interacBon of Titan’s magnetosphere with the solar wind.
Pre-‐Decisional InformaBon -‐-‐ For Planning and Discussion Purposes Only
The work described here was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California InsBtute of Technology.
