P13E-01
Scientific Synergies from the Europa Multiple-Flyby Mission
Monday, 14 December 2015: 13:40
3002 (Moscone West)
Robert T Pappalardo1, Louise M Prockter2, David Senske3, Kurt D Retherford4, Elizabeth P Turtle2, Diana L Blaney1, Philip R Christensen5, Donald D Blankenship6, Carol A Raymond3, Joseph H Westlake7, Jack H Waite Jr8, Sascha Kempf9, Geoffrey Collins10, Kevin P Hand1, Jonathan I Lunine11, Melissa A McGrath4,12, Francis Nimmo13, Carol S Paty14, Jason M Soderblom15, John R Spencer16, Sean C Solomon17, Chris Paranicas2 and the Europa Science Team, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (3)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States, (5)Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, (6)University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States, (7)JHUAPL, Laurel, MD, United States, (8)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (9)Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, United States, (10)Wheaton College, Norton, MA, United States, (11)Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States, (12)SETI Institute Mountain View, Mountain View, CA, United States, (13)University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States, (14)Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States, (15)Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States, (16)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (17)Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States
Abstract:
In May 2015, NASA announced selection of a suite of nine instruments for the Europa mission's scientific payload. The payload consists of five remote sensing instruments that cover the wavelength range from ultraviolet through radar and four in situ instruments that measure fields and particles; moreover, gravity science can be achieved via the telecom system, and valuable scientific data could come from the spacecraft’s planned radiation monitoring system. The remote sensing instruments are: an ultraviolet spectrograph (Europa-UVS); a wide-angle and narrow-angle visible camera system (EIS); an infrared spectrometer (MISE); a thermal instrument (E-THEMIS); and an ice-penetrating radar (REASON). The fields and particles instruments are: a magnetometer suite (ICEMAG); a plasma instrument (PIMS); a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MASPEX); and a dust analyzer (SUDA). Taken together, the payload has the potential to test hypotheses relevant to the composition, interior, and geology of Europa, in order to address the potential habitability of this intriguing moon. This presentation will introduce the Europa mission’s instrument suite, while providing an overview of the synergistic science that can come from this mission.
