Towards New Comet Missions

Thomas, N.; Ulamec, Stephan; Kührt, Ekkehard; Ciarletti, Valérie; Gundlach, Bastian; Yoldi, Z.; Schwehm, G.; Snodgrass, C.; Green, Simon

doi:10.1007/s11214-019-0611-0

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 131 publications

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“…Future experimental and theoretical studies, including space missions, [17] will follow to investigate the mechanisms of formation of these pristine molecules and their further evolution towards higher complexity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ESAs Kometen‐Mission Rosetta – Neu‐Analyse der Daten des COSAC Massenspektrometers

et al. 2022

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Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass das älteste weitgehend unveränderte Material aus der Frühphase des Sonnensystems in Form von Eis und Staub in Kometen vorliegt. Die ESA‐Mission Rosetta trug daher mit Philae eine Landeeinheit, die die Zusammensetzung des Nukleus von Komet 67P/Churyumov‐Gerassimenko in situ untersuchen sollte. Fünfundzwanzig Minuten nach dem ersten Bodenkontakt Philaes im November 2014 nahm das COSAC Flugzeit‐Massenspektrometer ein Spektrum der Gasphase des Kometen auf. Eine erneute Analyse dieses Spektrums mittels non‐negative least‐squares Fitting und einer Monte‐Carlo Simulation ergibt neue Erkenntnisse über die chemische Zusammensetzung des Kometen 67P. Insgesamt 12 organische Moleküle, von denen 9 bereits in der ersten Analyse der Daten identifiziert wurden, zeigen eine hohe statistische Wahrscheinlichkeit für eine Präsenz im Eis des Kometen. Diese flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen mit zum Teil hoher Konzentration stellen die ersten molekularen Ingredienzien des frühen Sonnensystems dar.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ESAs Kometen‐Mission Rosetta – Neu‐Analyse der Daten des COSAC Massenspektrometers

et al. 2022

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“…For the ESA Voyage 2050 long-term (2035-2050) plan, AMBITION and associated technical challenges should set the bar (see the prospective for future comet missions in [188]). Also to be considered is the international context of comet space exploration (see roadmap in Fig.…”

Section: Missions and Technological Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8 Schematic diagram attempting to reconcile the information we currently have on the interior layers and surface of cometary nuclei. Adapted from [188] 'surface' because the regolith, being depleted of volatile species, may not be a representative sample, at least for some science goals. This is a dynamic environment comprising both the residues of particulate matter that have become concentrated as a consequence of the devolatilization operating in the surface layers, and the products of any alteration processes that arise from interactions of surface materials with insolation/radiation etc.…”

Section: Corsair-corermentioning

confidence: 99%

AMBITION – comet nucleus cryogenic sample return

et al. 2021

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We describe the AMBITION project, a mission to return the first-ever cryogenically-stored sample of a cometary nucleus, that has been proposed for the ESA Science Programme Voyage 2050. Comets are the leftover building blocks of giant planet cores and other planetary bodies, and fingerprints of Solar System’s formation processes. We summarise some of the most important questions still open in cometary science and Solar System formation after the successful Rosetta mission. We show that many of these scientific questions require sample analysis using techniques that are only possible in laboratories on Earth. We summarize measurements, instrumentation and mission scenarios that can address these questions. We emphasize the need for returning a sample collected at depth or, still more challenging, at cryogenic temperatures while preserving the stratigraphy of the comet nucleus surface layers. We provide requirements for the next generation of landers, for cryogenic sample acquisition and storage during the return to Earth. Rendezvous missions to the main belt comets and Centaurs, expanding our knowledge by exploring new classes of comets, are also discussed. The AMBITION project is discussed in the international context of comet and asteroid space exploration.

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“…For the ESA Voyage 2050 long-term (2035-2050) plan, AMBITION and associated technical challenges should set the bar (see the prospective for future comet missions in [185]). Also to be considered is the international context of comet space exploration, in particular the pre-selection of the NASA New Frontiers Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return (CAESAR) mission for a Phase A study (see roadmap in Fig.…”

Section: Missions and Technological Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

AMBITION -- Comet Nucleus Cryogenic Sample Return (White paper for ESA's Voyage 2050 programme)

Bockelée-Morvan¹,

Filacchione²,

Altwegg³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The Giotto mission was the first interplanetary probe ever flown by the European Space Agency (ESA). Selected in 1980 and flown in 1985, Giotto was the most daring of an international fleet of five spaceprobes, which triumphantly visited the comet of all comets, 1P/Halley, in March 1986. Earlier on, in 1984, ESA and NASA established a Comet Nucleus Sample Return Science Definition Team; their work led in 1993 to the selection of the Rosetta mission as the Planetary Cornerstone of ESA's long-term programme Horizon 2000. Rosetta was the first mission ever to land an automated laboratory (Philae) on the surface of a cometary nucleus and to accompany an errant body in its active phase through the Solar System. Launched in 2004, Rosetta ended its operational life on the 30th of September 2016.Giotto and Rosetta have completely transformed our understanding of comets and have contributed hugely to give Europe a well-deserved leadership in the field of cometary studies. Selecting Giotto and Rosetta, Europe demonstrated the vision and the ambition to take the lead in the worldwide effort to learn about our origins. ESA has recently selected Comet Interceptor, a much smaller-scale mission (F-class) to encounter a yet-to-be-discovered Oort cloud comet, following a novel approach to expand our horizons on a limited budget. Europe has the opportunity to confirm and reinforce this leadership with an even more daring program: AMBITION, a mission to return the firstever cryogenically-stored sample of a cometary nucleus to Earth. The international context is very favourable as, after the recent selection by NASA of the next New Frontiers class candidate mission, no international agency (NASA, CNSA, JAXA) is presently planning a sample return mission from a cometary nucleus in the next decade. NASA's New Frontiers candidate CAESAR, the unique direct competitor of AMBITION, was not selected and, even if CAESAR could still be a potential candidate for the next New Frontiers call, NASA's present timeline gives Europe a competitive edge with the AMBITION endeavour.The numerous discoveries of the Rosetta mission are of great relevance not only for their scientific significance, but also because they provided essential insight into performing critical operations and measurements. This information provides better focus for the next set of fundamental questions that can be answered by the AMBITION project. This white paper, put together by a large scientific community ranging from cosmochemists to plasma physicists, presents compelling evidence that a mission capable of returning a cryogenic sample of a cometary nucleus to be analysed on Earth, and of studying the comet both remotely and in-situ, will be able to dig deeper into our past.

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Towards New Comet Missions

Cited by 17 publications

References 131 publications

ESAs Kometen‐Mission Rosetta – Neu‐Analyse der Daten des COSAC Massenspektrometers

ESAs Kometen‐Mission Rosetta – Neu‐Analyse der Daten des COSAC Massenspektrometers

AMBITION – comet nucleus cryogenic sample return

AMBITION -- Comet Nucleus Cryogenic Sample Return (White paper for ESA's Voyage 2050 programme)

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