KRONOS : exploring the depths of Saturn with probes and remote sensing through an international mission
- Creators
- Marty, B.
- Guillot, T.
- Coustenis, A.
- Consortium, The Kronos
- Achilleos, N.
- Alibert, Y.
- Asmar, S.
- Atkinson, D.
- Atreya, S.
- Babasides, G.
- Baines, K.
- Balint, T.
- Banfield, D.
- Barber, S.
- Bézard, B.
- Bjoraker, G. L.
- Blanc, M.
- Bolton, S.
- Chanover, N.
- Charnoz, S.
- Chassefière, E.
- Colwell, J. E.
- Deangelis, E.
- Dougherty, M.
- Drossart, P.
- Flasar, F. M.
- Fouchet, T.
- Frampton, R.
- Franchi, I.
- Gautier, D.
- Gurvits, L.
- Hueso, R.
- Kazeminejad, B.
- Krimigis, T.
- Jambon, A.
- Jones, G.
- Langevin, Y.
- Leese, M.
- Lellouch, E.
- Lunine, J.
- Milillo, A.
- Mahaffy, P.
- Mauk, B.
- Morse, A.
- Moreira, M.
- Moussas, X.
- Murray, C.
- Mueller-Wodarg, I.
- Owen, T. C.
- Pogrebenko, S.
- Prangé, R.
- Read, P.
- Sanchez-Lavega, A.
- Sarda, P.
- Stam, D.
- Tinetti, G.
- Zarka, P.
- Zarnecki, J.
- Others:
- Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (CRPG) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris ; Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy [UCL London] ; University College of London [London] (UCL)
- Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) ; NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)
- University of Idaho [Moscow, USA]
- Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor] (AOSS) ; University of Michigan [Ann Arbor] ; University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA)
- Cornell University [New York]
- The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
- Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance UMR 7323 (CESR) ; Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Université de Tours (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio] (SwRI)
- New Mexico State University
- Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)) ; Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)
- Service d'aéronomie (SA) ; Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- University of Central Florida [Orlando] (UCF)
- Instituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario ; Instituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
- Imperial College London
- The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach ;
- Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE ERIC)
- Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne] (UPV/EHU)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL)
- Laboratoire Magie ; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)
- Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) (AEI) ; Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Department of Planetary Sciences [Tucson] ; University of Arizona
- Laboratoire de Géochimie et Cosmochimie ; Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)
- University of London [London]
- Institute for Astronomy [Honolulu] ; University of Hawai'i [Honolulu] (UH)
- Clarendon Laboratory [Oxford] ; University of Oxford [Oxford]
- Interactions et dynamique des environnements de surface (IDES) ; Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek (AI PANNEKOEK) ; University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] (UvA)
- Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Description
Kronos is a mission aimed to measure in situ the chemical and isotopic compositions of the Saturnian atmosphere with two probes and also by remote sensing, in order to understand the origin, formation, and evolution of giant planets in general, including extrasolar planets. The abundances of noble gases, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and their compounds, as well as of the D/H, 4He/3He, 22Ne/21Ne/20Ne, 36Ar/38Ar, 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 18O/(17O)/16O, 136Xe/134Xe/132Xe/130Xe/129Xe isotopic ratios will be measured by mass spectrometry on two probes entering the atmosphere of Saturn at two different locations near mid-latitudes, down to a pressure of 10 Bar. The global composition of Saturn will be investigated through these measurements, together with microwave radiometry determination of H2O and NH3 and their 3D variations. The dynamics of Saturn's atmosphere will be investigated from: (1) measurements of pressure, temperature, vertical distribution of clouds and wind speed along the probes' descent trajectories, and (2) determination of deep winds, differential rotation and convection with combined probe, gravity and radiometric measurements. Besides these primary goals, Kronos will also measure the intensities and characteristics of Saturn's magnetic field inside the D ring as well as Saturn's gravitational field, in order to constrain the abundance of heavy elements in Saturn's interior and in its central core. Depending on the preferred architecture (flyby versus orbiter), Kronos will be in a position to measure the properties of Saturn's innermost magnetosphere and to investigate the ring structure in order to understand how these tiny structures could have formed and survived up to the present times.
Abstract
International audience
Additional details
- URL
- https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00401509
- URN
- urn:oai:HAL:hal-00401509v1
- Origin repository
- UNICA