SH32C:
The Interstellar Probe Mission: Study Findings and Next Steps I


Submit an Abstract to this Session


Session ID#: 61279

Session Description:
The Interstellar Probe would be first dedicated mission to venture in to the unknown space between our star and other potentially habitable planetary systems. In 2016, congress recommended NASA to take the enabling steps for an Interstellar scientific probe. NASA has now funded a study of an Interstellar Probe targeting 1000 AU within 50 years. The study objectives are to identify science targets, develop mission concepts and evaluate critical technologies. Science targets include exploration of the Very Local Interstellar Medium and its interaction with the heliosphere, characterization of the circum-solar dust, flybys of unexplored Kuiper Belt Objects, and putting these observations in the context of other exoplanetary systems and astrospheres. This session reports on the findings spanning the science discoveries enabled by an Interstellar Probe and its mission design, but also seeks contributions on other scientific targets, enabling technologies, mission concepts and programmatic challenges.
Primary Convener:  Pontus C. Brandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Conveners:  Richard Mewaldt, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States, Robert F Wimmer-Schweingruber, University of Kiel, Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Kiel, Germany and Kathleen Mandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, United States
Primary Liaison:  Pontus C. Brandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Chairs:  Pontus C. Brandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Richard Mewaldt, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States and Kathleen Mandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Pontus C. Brandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Co-Organized with:
SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics, and Planetary Sciences

Proposed Co-Organized Session with:
  • P - Planetary Sciences
Index Terms:

2126 Heliosphere/interstellar medium interactions [INTERPLANETARY PHYSICS]
6015 Dust [PLANETARY SCIENCES: COMETS AND SMALL BODIES]
6224 Kuiper belt objects [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS]
6285 Trans-Neptunian objects [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Interstellar Probe: A New Mission for a New Decade (Invited) (444893)
Ralph L McNutt Jr, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, MD, United States
Interstellar Express: A New Chinese Space Mission to Explore the Outer Heliosphere (378687)
Chi Wang, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China and Hui Li, NSSC National Space Science Center, CAS, Beijing, China
Heliosphere Under the Influence of Variations in the Local Interstellar Medium (353861)
Romana Elzbieta Ratkiewicz, Institute of Aviation, Warsaw, Poland and Marek Strumik, Space Research Center of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
KBO Fly-by Science Enabled by an Interstellar Probe (Invited) (448395)
Susan Benecchi, Planetary Science Institute Tucson, Tucson, United States
Discovering the Origin of the Solar System (351300)
Stefano A Livi, SwRI, San Antonio, United States, Ralph L McNutt Jr, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, MD, United States, George C Ho, The Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Frederic Allegrini, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States and Jim M Raines, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
A Compact Plasma, Pickup Ions and Suprathermal Tails Composition Instrument for the Interstellar Probe (436326)
George Gloeckler, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, Susan T Lepri, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States and Lennard A Fisk, Univ Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Exploring the Unseen: Extra-Heliospheric ENAs Observations on an Interstellar Probe (453246)
Stanislav V Barabash, Xiao-dong Wang and Charles Lue, IRF Swedish Institute of Space Physics Kiruna, Kiruna, Sweden
Interstellar Probe (ISP) Observations of the Solar System's Debris Disks (383513)
Carey Michael Lisse1, Ralph L McNutt Jr1, Pontus C. Brandt2, Andrew R Poppe3, Mihaly Horanyi4 and Michael B. Zemcov5, (1)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, MD, United States, (2)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (3)Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, (4)University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, United States, (5)Rochester Institute of Technology, School of Physics & Astronomy, Rochester, NY, United States
Kuiper Belt Planet Geoscience from Interstellar Probe (394448)
Kirby Daniel Runyon, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, Kathleen Mandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, United States, S Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Dept Space Studies, Boulder, United States, Pontus C. Brandt, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States and Ralph L McNutt Jr, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Space Exploration Sector, Laurel, MD, United States

See more of: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics