Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return
Three icy worlds in the solar system display evidence of pluming activity. Water vapor and ice particles emanate from cracks near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The plume gas contains simple hydrocarbons that could be fragments of larger, more complex organics. More recently, observ...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20150004429 2023-05-15T18:22:43+02:00 Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return Williams, P. Tsou, P. Neveu, M. Anbar, A. D. Glavin, D. P. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available March 16, 2015 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150004429 unknown Document ID: 20150004429 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150004429 Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright CASI Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy GSFC-E-DAA-TN20928 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference; 16-20 Mar. 2015; The Woodlands, TX; United States 2015 ftnasantrs 2019-07-21T00:16:32Z Three icy worlds in the solar system display evidence of pluming activity. Water vapor and ice particles emanate from cracks near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The plume gas contains simple hydrocarbons that could be fragments of larger, more complex organics. More recently, observations using the Hubble and Herschel space telescopes have hinted at transient water vapor plumes at Jupiter's moon Europa and the dwarf planet Ceres. Plume materials may be ejected directly from possible sub-surface oceans, at least on Enceladus. In such oceans, liquid water, organics, and energy may co-exist, making these environments habitable. The venting of habitable ocean material into space provides a unique opportunity to capture this material during a relatively simple flyby mission and return it to Earth. Plume collection strategies should enable investigations of evidence for life in the returned samples via laboratory analyses of the structure, distribution, isotopic composition, and chirality of the chemical components (including biomolecules) of plume materials. Here, we discuss approaches for the collection of dust and volatiles during flybys through Enceladus' plume, based on Cassini results and lessons learned from the Stardust comet sample return mission. We also highlight areas where sample collector and containment technology development and testing may be needed for future plume sample return missions. Other/Unknown Material South pole NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Hubble ENVELOPE(158.317,158.317,-80.867,-80.867) South Pole |
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Open Polar |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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ftnasantrs |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy |
spellingShingle |
Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy Williams, P. Tsou, P. Neveu, M. Anbar, A. D. Glavin, D. P. Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return |
topic_facet |
Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy |
description |
Three icy worlds in the solar system display evidence of pluming activity. Water vapor and ice particles emanate from cracks near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The plume gas contains simple hydrocarbons that could be fragments of larger, more complex organics. More recently, observations using the Hubble and Herschel space telescopes have hinted at transient water vapor plumes at Jupiter's moon Europa and the dwarf planet Ceres. Plume materials may be ejected directly from possible sub-surface oceans, at least on Enceladus. In such oceans, liquid water, organics, and energy may co-exist, making these environments habitable. The venting of habitable ocean material into space provides a unique opportunity to capture this material during a relatively simple flyby mission and return it to Earth. Plume collection strategies should enable investigations of evidence for life in the returned samples via laboratory analyses of the structure, distribution, isotopic composition, and chirality of the chemical components (including biomolecules) of plume materials. Here, we discuss approaches for the collection of dust and volatiles during flybys through Enceladus' plume, based on Cassini results and lessons learned from the Stardust comet sample return mission. We also highlight areas where sample collector and containment technology development and testing may be needed for future plume sample return missions. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Williams, P. Tsou, P. Neveu, M. Anbar, A. D. Glavin, D. P. |
author_facet |
Williams, P. Tsou, P. Neveu, M. Anbar, A. D. Glavin, D. P. |
author_sort |
Williams, P. |
title |
Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return |
title_short |
Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return |
title_full |
Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return |
title_fullStr |
Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plume Collection Strategies for Icy World Sample Return |
title_sort |
plume collection strategies for icy world sample return |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150004429 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(158.317,158.317,-80.867,-80.867) |
geographic |
Hubble South Pole |
geographic_facet |
Hubble South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20150004429 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150004429 |
op_rights |
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
_version_ |
1766202133340749824 |