Space Exploration 3rd Appleton Space Conference

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Space Exploration3rd Appleton Space Conference

• John Zarnecki
• Andrew Ball
• 6 December 2007

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UK Solar System Exploration

• Via
• ESA membership
• Bilaterals with USA, Japan, India, China, Russia,
  etc.
• Ground- and space-based observatories (UKIRT,
  HST,)
• Laboratory facilities (e.g. geochemistry,
  meteorites)
• Modelling / data analysis

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Active Planetary Missions

• Voyager 1,2 Interstellar Mission
• Ulysses
• Cassini (Huygens)
• (Stardust)
• Mars Odyssey
• (Genesis)
• Hayabusa
• Mars Express
• Spirit Opportunity

• Rosetta / Philae
• MESSENGER
• (Deep Impact)
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
• Venus Express
• New Horizons
• Phoenix
• Kaguya
• Dawn
• Change 1

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Coming Up

• Chandrayaan-1 (2008)
• Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter / LCROSS (2008)
• Mars Science Laboratory (2009)
• Phobos-Grunt (2009??)
• Planet-C (2010)

• BepiColombo (2013)
• ExoMars (2013)
• 2015
• NEO Sample Return
• Jupiter / Europa
• Titan / Enceladus
• Mars Sample Return
• MSR Precursor
• Crewed lunar missions robotic landers

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SMART-1
SMART-1 was the European Space Agency's first
mission to the Moon. It tested new technologies
and mapped the geochemistry of the Moon.
SMART-1 took a spiral route to the Moon and
arrived in December 2004. SMART-1's instruments
sent back data about the Moon's surface, orbit
and plasma environment. Data from the mission
will answer questions about the Moon's origin and
evolution. It impacted the Moon on 3 September
2006.
CFHT
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SMART-1
The UK's contribution to the mission was a
miniature sensor called D-CIXS. The instrument
took X-ray images of the Moon and investigated
the geochemistry of the lunar surface.
The D-CIXS team is led by CCLRC Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory and includes scientists and
engineers from 10 other UK institutions.
Chandrayaan-1
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GENESIS
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GENESIS
Genesis is the first mission to have brought a
piece of the Sun to Earth.
The NASA mission spent two years bathing in the
Solar Wind. Charged particles from the Solar
Wind have become embedded in the spacecraft's
collector arrays. A capsule containing the
collector arrays arrived back on Earth on 8th
September 2004.
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STARDUST
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NUCLEUS OF COMET WILD-2
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STARDUST
In 2006, the sample return capsule parachuted
back down to Earth. Analyses include
mineralogical isotopic composition and impact
flux
The Open University UKC are involved in
Stardust's Dust Flux Monitor (DFM), which
measured the size, distribution and movement of
dust particles in the comet's tail.
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Huygens Encounter with Titan
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Cassini hard at work
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
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Titans atmosphere a hydrocarbon chemical
factory producing rain for Titans surface
Unexpected heavy negative ions, related to Carl
Sagans tholins Coates et al, 2007
Heavy neutrals and positive ions Waite et al,
2007
Waite, J.H., Jr., et al, The Process of Tholin
Formation in Titans Upper Atmosphere, Science
316, 870 (11 May 2007) DOI 10.1126/science.11397
27. Coates, A.J., et al., Discovery of heavy
negative ions in Titans ionosphere, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 34, L22103, doi10.1029/2007GL030978.,
28 Nov 2007.
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MARS EXPRESS
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MARS EXPRESS
UK scientists are involved in three of the
instruments carried by the Mars Express orbiter.
Beagle 2 was designed and built primarily in the
UK.
Beagle 2 was designed to look for the chemical
signatures of life in Martian soil and
investigate the atmospheric conditions and
geology of the landing site. Beagle 2 was lost
on landing. However, its ground-breaking
miniaturisation technology will be used in future
missions.
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High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) Has
found much new evidence for past surface water
and present ice, including the discovery of a
vast frozen sea near the equator, measuring 800 x
300 km
E l y s i u m F r o z e n S e a
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35km ICY CRATER
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VENUS EXPRESS
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• UK Science Involvement in ESAs Venus Express
• Fred Taylor, University of Oxford Project
  Interdisciplinary Scientist, Co-investigator on
  VIRTIS
• Andrew Coates, UCLs Mullard Space Science
  Laboratory, Co-investigator on ASPERA-4
• Manuel Grande, University of Aberystwyth
  Co-investigator on ASPERA-4
• Chris Carr, Imperial College London
  Co-investigator on Magnetometer
• Michael Balikhin, University of Sheffield
  Co-investigator on Magnetometer
• UK industry contacts
• Jeremy Close, EADS Astrium Prime contractor for
  spacecraft
• Chris Lee, SciSys Mission control system

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Venus Express early results (1)

• Best and most global mapping of atmospheric
  temperatures at Venus to date
• First global investigation of temperature from
  upper atmosphere down to the cloud bottom (140 -
  40 km) with high vertical resolution
• Discovery of an unexpectedly warm layer at the
  mesopause (100 km)
• Spectacular show of Venus glowing
• Best ever measurements and imagery of atmospheric
  airglow (O2 at night, CO2 during the day), of
  their 3-D distribution and variability
• Improved understanding of Venus meteorology and
  global atmospheric dynamics
• Finest views of cloud layers at different
  altitudes
• Wind maps first precise and simultaneous
  measurements of wind speeds at 70 km and 50km
  altitudes, from equator to pole
• Discovery of the waves at the cloud tops and in
  the deep cloud
• South polar vortex as never seen before
• First and detailed 3D views of the South polar
  vortex
• Amazing complexity of the vortex structure and
  dynamics revealed for the first time

• New results from Venus Express - Press Conference
• Paris, ESA Headquarters, 28 November 2007

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Venus Express early results (2)

• New clues on Venus interaction with the solar
  wind, climate and evolution
• first ever measurements of the structure of the
  near-Venus plasma environment at solar minimum
  conditions
• Pioneering observations of the ions (H, He, O
  ) in the near-Venus environment and their escape
  due to interaction with the solar wind
• Measurements of heavy water provide new clues
  on the history of water on Venus and its overall
  climate evolution
• Electron density profiles at 100-400 km
• Preliminary measurements of the chemical
  composition
• Best ever mapping of chemical components (H2O,
  HDO, CO, HCl, HF) in the mesosphere (70-100 km)
• Confirmation of lightning !

• New results from Venus Express - Press Conference
• Paris, ESA Headquarters, 28 November 2007

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ROSETTA
Rosetta is the first space mission to attempt to
land on a comet. The spacecraft will spend two
years travelling with Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
around the Sun.
Rosettas orbiter will map the nucleus and
analyse gases and dust in the comet's atmosphere.
Rosettas lander, Philae, will take measurements
and samples from the surface of the nucleus.
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ROSETTA
Scientists and engineers from 17 British
organisations have contributed to the Rosetta
mission.
The Open University and CCLRC Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory have developed Ptolemy, an instrument
to investigate the chemistry of Comet
Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
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BepiColombo

• Launch 2013 to Mercury
• Planetary Magnetospheric Orbiters
• Objectives
• Origin and evolution of a planet close to the
  parent star
• Mercury as a planet form, interior, structure,
  geology, composition and craters
• Mercury's vestigial atmosphere (exosphere)
  composition and dynamics
• Mercury's magnetized envelope (magnetosphere)
  structure and dynamics
• Origin of Mercury's magnetic field
• Test of General Relativity

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ExoMars

• Past Life
• Extant Life?
• Habitability
• Hazards for humans
• Launch 2013