Moonraker: Enceladus Multiple Flyby Mission

Olivier Mousis (1, 2) , Alexis Bouquet (1, 3) , Yves Langevin (4) , N André (5) , Hélène Boithias (6) , Georges Durry (7) , F. Faye (6) , Paul Hartogh (8) , J. Helbert (9) , L Iess (10) , S Kempf (11) , A Masters (12) , F Postberg (13) , Jean-Baptiste Renard (14) , P Vernazza (1) , A Vorburger (15) , P Wurz (15) , D. H. Atkinson (16) , S Barabash (17) , M Berthomier (18) , J Brucato (19) , M Cable (16) , John Carter (1) , S Cazaux (20, 21) , A Coustenis (22) , G Danger (3, 2) , V Dehant (23) , T Fornaro (19) , Philippe Garnier (5) , Thomas Gautier (24, 22) , O Groussin (1) , L Z Hadid (18) , J-C Ize (1) , I Kolmasova (25, 26) , J-P Lebreton (14) , S Le Maistre (23) , E Lellouch (22) , J I Lunine (27) , K E Mandt (28) , Z Martins (29) , David Mimoun (30) , Quentin Nénon (5) , G M Muñoz Caro (31) , Pascal Rannou (7) , H Rauer (9) , P Schmitt-Kopplin (32) , Antoine Schneeberger (1) , M Simons (33) , K Stephan (9) , T. van Hoolst (22) , J Vaverka (26) , M Wieser (17) , L Wörner (34)

1 LAM - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
2 IUF - Institut Universitaire de France
3 PIIM - Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires
4 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
5 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie
6 Airbus Defence and Space [Les Mureaux]
7 GSMA - Groupe de spectrométrie moléculaire et atmosphérique
8 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung
9 DLR Institut für Planetenforschung
10 DIMA - Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale [Roma La Sapienza]
11 LASP - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder]
12 Imperial College London
13 Institute of Geological Sciences [Berlin]
14 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace
15 Physics Institute [Bern]
16 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
17 IRF - Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Kiruna]
18 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
19 OAA - INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
20 Faculty of Aerospace Engineering [Delft]
21 Leiden Observatory [Leiden]
22 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics
23 ROB - Royal Observatory of Belgium [Brussels]
24 PLANETO - LATMOS
25 IAP - Institute of Atmospheric Physics [Prague]
26 Faculty of Mathematics and Physics [Praha/Prague]
27 Department of Astronomy [Ithaca]
28 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]
29 CQE - Centro de Quimica Estrutural
30 ISAE-SUPAERO - Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
31 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
32 MPE - Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik
33 Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
34 DLR In­sti­tute of Quan­tum Tech­nolo­gies

Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn, possesses an internal water ocean and jets expelling ocean material into space. Cassini investigations indicated that the subsurface ocean could be a habitable environment having a complex interaction with the rocky core. Further investigation of the composition of the plume formed by the jets is necessary to fully understand the ocean, its potential habitability, and what it tells us about Enceladus's origin. Moonraker has been proposed as an ESA M-class mission designed to orbit Saturn and perform multiple flybys of Enceladus, focusing on traversals of the plume. The proposed Moonraker mission consists of an ESA-provided platform with strong heritage from JUICE and Mars Sample Return and carrying a suite of instruments dedicated to plume and surface analysis. The nominal Moonraker mission has a duration of ∼13.5 yr. It includes a 23-flyby segment with 189 days allocated for the science phase and can be expanded with additional segments if resources allow. The mission concept consists of investigating (i) the habitability conditions of present-day Enceladus and its

Keywords: Saturnian satellites; Habitable planets; Ocean planets; Enceladus; Astrobiology

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Olivier Mousis, Alexis Bouquet, Yves Langevin, N André, Hélène Boithias, et al.. Moonraker: Enceladus Multiple Flyby Mission. The Planetary Science Journal, 2022, 3, 268 (12pp). ⟨10.3847/psj/ac9c03⟩. ⟨insu-03895409⟩