Ice giant system exploration within ESA’s Voyage 2050

Journal
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Fletcher, Leigh N.
•
Helled, Ravit
•
Roussos, Elias
•
Jones, Geraint
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Charnoz, Sébastien
•
André, Nicolas
•
Andrews, David
•
Bannister, Michele
•
Bunce, Emma
•
Cavalié, Thibault
•
Ferri, Francesca
•
Fortney, Jonathan
•
•
Griton, Léa
•
Hartogh, Paul
•
Hueso, Ricardo
•
Kaspi, Yohai
•
Lamy, Laurent
•
Masters, Adam
•
Melin, Henrik
•
Moses, Julianne
•
Mousis, Oliver
•
Nettleman, Nadine
•
•
Schmidt, Jürgen
•
Simon, Amy
•
Tobie, Gabriel
•
Tortora, Paolo
•
•
DOI
Abstract
Of all the myriad environments in our Solar System, the least explored are the distant Ice Giants Uranus and Neptune, and their diverse satellite and ring systems. These ‘intermediate-sized’ worlds are the last remaining class of Solar System planet to be characterised by a dedicated robotic mission, and may shape the paradigm for the most common outcome of planetary formation throughout our galaxy. In response to the 2019 European Space Agency call for scientific themes in the 2030s and 2040s (known as Voyage 2050), we advocated that an international partnership mission to explore an Ice Giant should be a cornerstone of ESA’s science planning in the coming decade, targeting launch opportunities in the early 2030s. This article summarises the inter-disciplinary science opportunities presented in that White Paper [1], and briefly describes developments since 2019.
Volume
54
Issue
2-3
Start page
1015
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
0922-6435
Ads BibCode
2022ExA....54.1015F
Rights
open.access
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