10.2 Current and future planetary missions

Planetary exploration missions are pushing the boundaries of our knowledge about the solar system. From Mars rovers searching for ancient life to spacecraft studying icy moons, these missions are uncovering secrets about our cosmic neighborhood. They're also paving the way for future exploration and potential human missions.

Current and future missions face technological challenges in propulsion, power, and communication. International collaboration is key to overcoming these hurdles. By working together, space agencies can share costs, expertise, and resources, making ambitious missions possible and fostering scientific diplomacy among nations.

Ongoing Planetary Missions

Exploring Mars and the Search for Life

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• NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is searching for signs of ancient microbial life, characterizing the planet's geology and climate, and collecting samples for future return to Earth
  • The rover is equipped with a suite of scientific instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, and a drill, to analyze the Martian environment and gather evidence of past habitability
  • Perseverance is exploring the Jezero Crater, a site believed to have once hosted a lake and river delta, which could have provided favorable conditions for microbial life in the past
  • The mission aims to cache promising samples that will be retrieved by a future Mars Sample Return campaign, enabling detailed analysis in Earth-based laboratories

Investigating the Solar System's Small Bodies

• Japan's Hayabusa2 mission successfully collected samples from the asteroid Ryugu and returned them to Earth in December 2020 for analysis
  • The mission aimed to study the asteroid's composition, formation history, and evolution to better understand the early solar system and the role of asteroids in delivering water and organic materials to Earth
  • Hayabusa2 deployed multiple rovers and a lander on Ryugu's surface to conduct in-situ measurements and collect surface and subsurface samples
• NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is preparing to return samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu in September 2023
  • The spacecraft studied Bennu's shape, topography, composition, and thermal properties to select a suitable sampling site and characterize the asteroid's environment
  • OSIRIS-REx successfully collected a sufficient amount of material from Bennu's surface in October 2020, which will be analyzed in Earth-based laboratories to investigate the asteroid's formation and evolution

Studying the Giant Planets and Their Moons

• NASA's Juno spacecraft, orbiting Jupiter since 2016, is studying the planet's composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere
  • Juno's primary goal is to understand Jupiter's formation and evolution, as well as its role in the development of the solar system
  • The spacecraft's highly elliptical orbit allows it to make close passes over Jupiter's poles, providing unprecedented views of the planet's auroras and gathering data on its internal structure and atmospheric dynamics
• The European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission, launched in 2018, is en route to Mercury to study the planet's composition, geophysics, atmosphere, and magnetosphere
  • BepiColombo consists of two orbiters: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), which will study the planet from complementary orbits
  • The mission aims to investigate Mercury's origin and evolution, its internal structure, the nature of its magnetic field, and the composition of its surface and exosphere
  • BepiColombo will also test Einstein's theory of general relativity by measuring the precession of Mercury's orbit with unprecedented accuracy

Future Missions and Their Contributions

Exploring the Habitability of Ocean Worlds

• NASA's Europa Clipper mission, set to launch in the 2020s, will study Jupiter's moon Europa to investigate its potential habitability and characterize its internal structure, geology, and composition
  • Europa is believed to harbor a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust, which could potentially support microbial life
  • The spacecraft will perform multiple close flybys of Europa, using a suite of scientific instruments to measure the moon's gravity and magnetic fields, analyze its surface composition, and search for evidence of plumes or other active geological processes
• The European Space Agency's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, scheduled for launch in 2022, will study the Jovian system, focusing on the moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa
  • JUICE will investigate the potential habitability of these icy moons, characterizing their subsurface oceans, ice shell properties, and surface geology
  • The mission will also study Jupiter's atmosphere, magnetosphere, and its interaction with the Galilean moons, providing a comprehensive understanding of the Jovian system

Investigating the Prebiotic Chemistry of Titan

• NASA's Dragonfly mission, planned for launch in 2026, will send a rotorcraft to explore the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of Saturn's moon Titan
  • Titan's atmosphere and surface environment contain complex organic molecules and exhibit processes similar to those that may have led to the emergence of life on early Earth
  • Dragonfly will perform multiple flights on Titan's surface, sampling and analyzing the moon's atmosphere and surface materials to study its prebiotic chemistry and potential for habitability
  • The mission will also investigate Titan's atmospheric dynamics, surface geology, and subsurface ocean, providing insights into the moon's formation and evolution

Understanding Venus' Evolution and Past Habitability

• The European Space Agency's EnVision mission, set to launch in the early 2030s, will study Venus' atmosphere, surface, and interior to better understand the planet's evolution and potential past habitability
  • Venus may have once had a more temperate climate and liquid water on its surface, but it experienced a dramatic transformation due to a runaway greenhouse effect
  • EnVision will use a suite of instruments, including a radar sounder and a spectrometer, to map Venus' surface features, study its geological activity, and analyze its atmospheric composition and dynamics
  • The mission aims to shed light on Venus' past and present, providing insights into the factors that led to its current hostile environment and informing comparative studies of planetary evolution

China's Mars Exploration Program

• China's Tianwen-1 mission, launched in 2020, includes an orbiter, lander, and rover to study Mars' morphology, geology, mineralogy, space environment, and subsurface structure
  • The orbiter is studying Mars' surface and atmosphere, providing global mapping and characterization of the planet's environment
  • The lander and rover, named Zhurong, are investigating the Utopia Planitia region, searching for evidence of past water activity and analyzing the surface composition and weathering processes
  • Tianwen-1 represents China's first independent interplanetary mission and demonstrates the country's growing capabilities in space exploration

Technological Challenges for Missions

Propulsion and Power Systems

• Advanced propulsion systems, such as solar electric propulsion and nuclear thermal propulsion, are needed to enable more efficient and faster travel to distant targets
  • Solar electric propulsion uses solar arrays to generate electricity, which powers ion engines that provide continuous, low-thrust propulsion, enabling missions to reach destinations that would be impractical with traditional chemical propulsion
  • Nuclear thermal propulsion uses a nuclear reactor to heat a propellant, such as hydrogen, which is then expelled through a nozzle to generate thrust, providing higher specific impulse and shorter travel times compared to chemical propulsion
• Improved power systems, including radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and advanced solar arrays, are essential for missions to operate in the outer solar system or on planetary surfaces with limited sunlight
  • RTGs convert the heat generated by the decay of radioactive isotopes, such as plutonium-238, into electricity, providing a reliable and long-lasting power source for spacecraft operating in environments with limited solar energy
  • Advanced solar arrays, such as flexible or concentrator arrays, can improve the efficiency and durability of solar power systems, enabling missions to operate in a wider range of environments and distances from the Sun

Autonomous Systems and Instrumentation

• Autonomous navigation and landing systems are crucial for missions targeting small bodies, moons, or planets with challenging terrains
  • These systems use a combination of sensors, cameras, and onboard processing to detect and avoid hazards, select safe landing sites, and guide the spacecraft to a precise touchdown location
  • Autonomous systems are particularly important for missions to distant or time-critical targets, where real-time communication with Earth is limited or impractical
• Robust and miniaturized scientific instruments are required to maximize data collection while minimizing payload mass and power consumption
  • Advances in sensor technology, electronics, and materials science enable the development of compact, lightweight, and highly sensitive instruments that can withstand the harsh environments of space and planetary surfaces
  • Examples of such instruments include miniaturized mass spectrometers, laser spectrometers, and high-resolution cameras that can provide detailed analysis of planetary atmospheres, surfaces, and subsurface materials

Communication and Planetary Protection

• Enhanced communication systems, such as laser communication, are necessary to enable high-bandwidth data transmission from distant spacecraft to Earth
  • Laser communication uses focused beams of light to transmit data at much higher rates than traditional radio frequency communication, enabling missions to send more data back to Earth in a shorter time
  • This technology is particularly important for missions to the outer solar system or beyond, where the distance between the spacecraft and Earth can limit the amount of data that can be transmitted using conventional methods
• Planetary protection technologies, including sterilization and contamination control measures, are essential to prevent forward and backward contamination of planetary environments
  • Forward contamination refers to the introduction of Earth-based microbes or organic materials to other planetary bodies, which could compromise the search for indigenous life or alter the planet's natural environment
  • Backward contamination involves the potential transfer of extraterrestrial materials or organisms back to Earth, which could pose a risk to Earth's biosphere and human health
  • Spacecraft and instruments must undergo rigorous cleaning and sterilization procedures to minimize the risk of contamination, and sample return missions must employ strict containment and quarantine protocols to ensure the safe handling and analysis of extraterrestrial materials

International Collaboration in Exploration

Benefits of International Partnerships

• International partnerships allow for cost-sharing, risk reduction, and the pooling of expertise and resources among space agencies
  • By collaborating on missions, space agencies can distribute the financial burden, share technical knowledge, and leverage each other's strengths and capabilities
  • Collaborative efforts also help to mitigate the risks associated with complex and challenging missions, as partners can provide backup systems, redundancy, and support in case of failures or anomalies
• Collaborative missions, such as the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury and the ESA-NASA Mars Sample Return campaign, demonstrate the benefits of international cooperation
  • BepiColombo combines the expertise and resources of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to study Mercury's environment and evolution, with each agency contributing an orbiter to the mission
  • The Mars Sample Return campaign involves close collaboration between NASA and ESA, with each agency responsible for specific elements of the mission, such as the sample retrieval lander, the Earth return orbiter, and the sample receiving facility

Coordination and Knowledge Sharing

• The International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG) facilitates coordination and collaboration among space agencies for Mars exploration activities
  • IMEWG provides a forum for space agencies to exchange information, discuss scientific priorities, and coordinate mission plans and objectives to maximize the scientific return and avoid duplication of efforts
  • The working group also promotes the standardization of data formats and the sharing of scientific results and lessons learned from Mars missions
• The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) serves as a forum for space agencies to discuss and coordinate global space exploration efforts, including missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond
  • ISECG develops the Global Exploration Roadmap, a non-binding framework that outlines a shared vision and strategy for international space exploration
  • The group facilitates the exchange of information on exploration plans, identifies opportunities for collaboration, and promotes the development of common exploration technologies and architectures

Diplomacy and Workforce Development

• International collaboration fosters scientific diplomacy, promoting peaceful cooperation and understanding among nations
  • Space exploration provides a platform for countries to work together towards common goals, transcending political and cultural differences
  • Collaborative missions and projects help to build trust, foster dialogue, and promote the exchange of ideas and perspectives among nations
• Global partnerships in planetary exploration contribute to the development of a skilled international workforce and the exchange of knowledge and technologies across borders
  • International collaborations provide opportunities for scientists, engineers, and students from different countries to work together, learn from each other, and develop new skills and expertise
  • The exchange of knowledge and technologies through collaborative projects helps to advance the state of the art in space exploration and promotes innovation and economic growth in the participating countries