Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus.
Cassini revealed that Saturn's Moon Enceladus hosts a subsurface ocean that meets the accepted criteria for habitability with bio-essential elements and compounds, liquid water, and energy sources available in the environment. Whether these conditions are sufficiently abundant and collocated to...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35290745 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9233532/ |
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ftpubmed:35290745 2024-09-15T18:36:47+00:00 Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. MacKenzie, Shannon M Neveu, Marc Davila, Alfonso F Lunine, Jonathan I Cable, Morgan L Phillips-Lander, Charity M Eigenbrode, Jennifer L Waite, J Hunter Craft, Kate L Hofgartner, Jason D McKay, Chris P Glein, Christopher R Burton, Dana Kounaves, Samuel P Mathies, Richard A Vance, Steven D Malaska, Michael J Gold, Robert German, Christopher R Soderlund, Krista M Willis, Peter Freissinet, Caroline McEwen, Alfred S Brucato, John Robert de Vera, Jean-Pierre P Hoehler, Tori M Heldmann, Jennifer 2022-06 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35290745 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9233532/ eng eng Atypon https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35290745 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9233532/ Astrobiology ISSN:1557-8070 Volume:22 Issue:6 Enceladus Habitability Life detection Mission Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 2024-08-30T16:03:00Z Cassini revealed that Saturn's Moon Enceladus hosts a subsurface ocean that meets the accepted criteria for habitability with bio-essential elements and compounds, liquid water, and energy sources available in the environment. Whether these conditions are sufficiently abundant and collocated to support life remains unknown and cannot be determined from Cassini data. However, thanks to the plume of oceanic material emanating from Enceladus' south pole, a new mission to Enceladus could search for evidence of life without having to descend through kilometers of ice. In this article, we outline the science motivations for such a successor to Cassini, choosing the primary science goal to be determining whether Enceladus is inhabited and assuming a resource level equivalent to NASA's Flagship-class missions. We selected a set of potential biosignature measurements that are complementary and orthogonal to build a robust case for any life detection result. This result would be further informed by quantifications of the habitability of the environment through geochemical and geophysical investigations into the ocean and ice shell crust. This study demonstrates that Enceladus' plume offers an unparalleled opportunity for in situ exploration of an Ocean World and that the planetary science and astrobiology community is well equipped to take full advantage of it in the coming decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole PubMed Central (PMC) Astrobiology 22 6 685 712 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Enceladus Habitability Life detection Mission |
spellingShingle |
Enceladus Habitability Life detection Mission MacKenzie, Shannon M Neveu, Marc Davila, Alfonso F Lunine, Jonathan I Cable, Morgan L Phillips-Lander, Charity M Eigenbrode, Jennifer L Waite, J Hunter Craft, Kate L Hofgartner, Jason D McKay, Chris P Glein, Christopher R Burton, Dana Kounaves, Samuel P Mathies, Richard A Vance, Steven D Malaska, Michael J Gold, Robert German, Christopher R Soderlund, Krista M Willis, Peter Freissinet, Caroline McEwen, Alfred S Brucato, John Robert de Vera, Jean-Pierre P Hoehler, Tori M Heldmann, Jennifer Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. |
topic_facet |
Enceladus Habitability Life detection Mission |
description |
Cassini revealed that Saturn's Moon Enceladus hosts a subsurface ocean that meets the accepted criteria for habitability with bio-essential elements and compounds, liquid water, and energy sources available in the environment. Whether these conditions are sufficiently abundant and collocated to support life remains unknown and cannot be determined from Cassini data. However, thanks to the plume of oceanic material emanating from Enceladus' south pole, a new mission to Enceladus could search for evidence of life without having to descend through kilometers of ice. In this article, we outline the science motivations for such a successor to Cassini, choosing the primary science goal to be determining whether Enceladus is inhabited and assuming a resource level equivalent to NASA's Flagship-class missions. We selected a set of potential biosignature measurements that are complementary and orthogonal to build a robust case for any life detection result. This result would be further informed by quantifications of the habitability of the environment through geochemical and geophysical investigations into the ocean and ice shell crust. This study demonstrates that Enceladus' plume offers an unparalleled opportunity for in situ exploration of an Ocean World and that the planetary science and astrobiology community is well equipped to take full advantage of it in the coming decades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MacKenzie, Shannon M Neveu, Marc Davila, Alfonso F Lunine, Jonathan I Cable, Morgan L Phillips-Lander, Charity M Eigenbrode, Jennifer L Waite, J Hunter Craft, Kate L Hofgartner, Jason D McKay, Chris P Glein, Christopher R Burton, Dana Kounaves, Samuel P Mathies, Richard A Vance, Steven D Malaska, Michael J Gold, Robert German, Christopher R Soderlund, Krista M Willis, Peter Freissinet, Caroline McEwen, Alfred S Brucato, John Robert de Vera, Jean-Pierre P Hoehler, Tori M Heldmann, Jennifer |
author_facet |
MacKenzie, Shannon M Neveu, Marc Davila, Alfonso F Lunine, Jonathan I Cable, Morgan L Phillips-Lander, Charity M Eigenbrode, Jennifer L Waite, J Hunter Craft, Kate L Hofgartner, Jason D McKay, Chris P Glein, Christopher R Burton, Dana Kounaves, Samuel P Mathies, Richard A Vance, Steven D Malaska, Michael J Gold, Robert German, Christopher R Soderlund, Krista M Willis, Peter Freissinet, Caroline McEwen, Alfred S Brucato, John Robert de Vera, Jean-Pierre P Hoehler, Tori M Heldmann, Jennifer |
author_sort |
MacKenzie, Shannon M |
title |
Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. |
title_short |
Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. |
title_full |
Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. |
title_fullStr |
Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Science Objectives for Flagship-Class Mission Concepts for the Search for Evidence of Life at Enceladus. |
title_sort |
science objectives for flagship-class mission concepts for the search for evidence of life at enceladus. |
publisher |
Atypon |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35290745 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9233532/ |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
Astrobiology ISSN:1557-8070 Volume:22 Issue:6 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35290745 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9233532/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2425 |
container_title |
Astrobiology |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
685 |
op_container_end_page |
712 |
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1810480499956645888 |