The Atmospheric Structure of the Ice Giant Planets from In Situ Measurements by Entry Probes

Francesca Ferri (1) , Giacomo Colombatti (1) , Alessio Aboudan (1) , Carlo Bettanini (1) , Stefano Debei (1) , Ari-Matti Harri (2) , Jean-Pierre Lebreton (3) , Franck Montmessin (4) , Jean-Jacques Berthelier (4) , Alice Le Gall (4) , Ronan Modolo (5) , Karen Aplin (6) , Athena Coustenis (7)

1 CISAS - Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali “Giuseppe Colombo”
2 FMI - Finnish Meteorological Institute
3 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace
4 PLANETO - LATMOS
5 HELIOS - LATMOS
6 University of Bristol [Bristol]
7 LESIA (UMR_8109) - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique

In situ measurements by an atmospheric entry probe allow for sounding and investigating atmospheric composition, structure and dynamics deep into the atmosphere of a Giant planet. In this paper, we describe an Atmospheric Structure Instrument (ASI) for an entry probe at Uranus and/or Neptune. The scientific objectives, the measurements and the expected results are discussed in the framework of a future opportunity for an NASA-ESA joint mission to the Ice Giant planets.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Francesca Ferri, Giacomo Colombatti, Alessio Aboudan, Carlo Bettanini, Stefano Debei, et al.. The Atmospheric Structure of the Ice Giant Planets from In Situ Measurements by Entry Probes. Space Science Reviews, 2020, 216 (8), pp.118. ⟨10.1007/s11214-020-00749-9⟩. ⟨insu-02993661⟩