Uranus Pathfinder: exploring the origins and evolution of Ice Giant planets

Christopher S. Arridge, Craig B. Agnor, Nicolas André, Kevin H. Baines, Leigh N. Fletcher, Daniel Gautier, Mark D. Hofstadter, Geraint H. Jones, Laurent Lamy, Yves Langevin, Olivier Mousis, Nadine Nettelmann, Christopher T. Russell, Tom Stallard, Matthew S. Tiscareno, Gabriel Tobie, Andrew Bacon, Chris Chaloner, Michael Guest, Steve KembleLisa Peacocke, Nicholas Achilleos, Thomas P. Andert, Don Banfield, Stas Barabash, Mathieu Barthelemy, Cesar Bertucci, Pontus Brandt, Baptiste Cecconi, Supriya Chakrabarti, Andy F Cheng, Ulrich Christensen, Apostolos Christou, Andrew J. Coates, Glyn Collinson, John F. Cooper, Regis Courtin, Michele K. Dougherty, Robert W. Ebert, Marta Entradas, Andrew N. Fazakerley, Jonathan J. Fortney, Marina Galand, Jaques Gustin, Matthew Hedman Matthew Hedman, Ravit Helled, Pierre Henri, Sebastien Hess, Richard Holme, Ozgur Karatekin, Norbert Krupp, Jared Leisner, Javier Martin-Torres, Adam Masters, Henrik Melin, Steve Miller, Ingo Müller-Wodarg, Benoît Noyelles, Chris Paranicas, Imke de Pater, Martin Pätzold, Renée Prangé, Eric Quémerais, Elias Roussos, Abigail M. Rymer, Agustin Sánchez-Lavega, Joachim Saur, Kunio M. Sayanagi, Paul Schenk, Gerald Schubert, Nick Sergis, Frank Sol, Edward C. Sittler Jr, Nick A. Teanby, Silvia Tellmann, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Sandrine Vinatier, Jan-Erik Wahlund, Philippe Zarka

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The "Ice Giants" Uranus and Neptune are a different class of planet compared to Jupiter and Saturn. Studying these objects is important for furthering our understanding of the formation and evolution of the planets, and unravelling the fundamental physical and chemical processes in the Solar System. The importance of filling these gaps in our knowledge of the Solar System is particularly acute when trying to apply our understanding to the numerous planetary systems that have been discovered around other stars. The Uranus Pathfinder (UP) mission thus represents the quintessential aspects of the objectives of the European planetary community as expressed in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025. UP was proposed to the European Space Agency's M3 call for medium-class missions in 2010 and proposed to be the first orbiter of an Ice Giant planet. As the most accessible Ice Giant within the M-class mission envelope Uranus was identified as the mission target. Although not selected for this call the UP mission concept provides a baseline framework for the exploration of Uranus with existing low-cost platforms and underlines the need to develop power sources suitable for the outer Solar System. The UP science case is based around exploring the origins, evolution, and processes at work in Ice Giant planetary systems. Three broad themes were identified: (1) Uranus as an Ice Giant, (2) An Ice Giant planetary system, and (3) An asymmetric magnetosphere. Due to the long interplanetary transfer from Earth to Uranus a significant cruise- phase science theme was also developed. The UP mission concept calls for the use of a Mars Express/Rosetta-type platform to launch on a Soyuz- Fregat in 2021 and entering into an eccentric polar orbit around Uranus in the 2036-2037 timeframe. The science payload has a strong heritage in Europe and beyond and requires no significant technology developments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)753-791
Number of pages39
JournalExperimental astronomy (Print)
Volume33
Issue number2-3
Early online date10 Sept 2011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
CSA was supported by a Science and Technology Facilities Council Postdoctoral Fellowship. LNF was supported by a Glasstone Fellowship at the University of Oxford. We wish to thank EADS Astrium and Systems Engineering and Assessment Ltd. for their assistance with this study.

Keywords

  • Uranus
  • Ice Giant
  • Orbiter
  • Giant planet atmosphere
  • Ring system
  • Interior
  • Dynamo
  • Magnetosphere
  • Natural satellite

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