Exploration of Enceladus' Water-Rich Plumes toward Understanding of Chemistry and Biology of the Interior Ocean

• SEKINE Yasuhito

  Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, University of Tokyo

• TAKANO Yoshinori

  Institute of Biogeoscience, JAMSTEC

• YANO Hajime

  Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, JAXA JAXA Space Exploration Center, JAXA

• FUNASE Ryu

  Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Tokyo

• TAKAI Ken

  Institute of Biogeoscience, JAMSTEC Precambrian Ecosystem Laboratory, JAMSTEC

• ISHIHARA Morio

  Department of Physics, Osaka University

• SHIBUYA Takazo

  Precambrian Ecosystem Laboratory, JAMSTEC

• TACHIBANA Shogo

  Department of Natural History Sciences, Hokkaido University

• KURAMOTO Kiyoshi

  Department of Cosmosciences, Hokkaido University

• YABUTA Hikaru

  Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University

• KIMURA Jun

  Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology

• FURUKAWA Yoshihiro

  Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• Exploration of Enceladus^|^apos; Water-Rich Plumes toward Understanding of Chemistry and Biology of the Interior Ocean
• Far-infrared amplified emission from the v= 1 autoionizing Rydberg states of NO

Abstract

Enceladus is the only icy satellite known to exhibits on-going geological activity of water-rich plumes derived from the interior ocean. Here, we propose a sample return and in-situ measurement mission for Enceladus' plume materials. Depending on the cost, mission duration, and propulsion system, we propose three types of missions to Enceladus; type 1: free-return trajectory, type 2: trajectory orbiting Saturn, and type 3: trajectory orbiting Enceladus. Type 2 and 3 are preferable to type 1 in order to achieve lower encountering velocity to the plumes (> 4 km/s and 0.2 km/s for type 2 and 3, respectively) and, thus, to collect multiple and intact samples. High resolution mass spectroscopy of the gas components will provide essential information to understand the physical and chemical conditions of both the interior ocean and the solar nebula. Furthermore, detailed onboard and onshore analyses of returned samples could provide geochemical, preboplogical, and, potentially, biological context in the interior ocean of Enceladus.

Journal

• TRANSACTIONS OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES, AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

  TRANSACTIONS OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES, AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN 12 (ists29), Tk_7-Tk_11, 2014

  THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES

Keywords

• Enceladus
• Icy Satellite
• Outer Solar System
• Sample Return
• Electric Propulsion

Details

• CRID: 1390001205321365504
• NII Article ID: 130004548657
• DOI: 10.2322/tastj.12.tk_7
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2014.03.070
• ISSN: 18840485
• ISSN: 00092614
• Web Site: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/tastj/12/ists29/12_Tk_7/_pdf
• Web Site: https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0009261414002309?httpAccept=text/xml
• Web Site: https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0009261414002309?httpAccept=text/plain
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • Crossref
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed