Persephone: A Pluto-System Orbiter and Kuiper Belt Explorer
Abstract
Persephone is a NASA concept mission study that addresses key questions raised by New Horizons' encounters with Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), with arguably the most important being "Does Pluto have a subsurface ocean?". More broadly, Persephone would answer four significant science questions: (1) What are the internal structures of Pluto and Charon? (2) How have the surfaces and atmospheres in the Pluto system evolved? (3) How has the KBO population evolved? (4) What are the particles and magnetic field environments of the Kuiper Belt? To answer these questions, Persephone has a comprehensive payload, and would both orbit within the Pluto system and encounter other KBOs. The nominal mission is 30.7 years long, with launch in 2031 on a Space Launch System (SLS) Block 2 rocket with a Centaur kick stage, followed by a 27.6 year cruise powered by existing radioisotope electric propulsion (REP) and a Jupiter gravity assist to reach Pluto in 2058. En route to Pluto, Persephone would have one 50- to 100-km-class KBO encounter before starting a 3.1 Earth-year orbital campaign of the Pluto system. The mission also includes the potential for an 8-year extended mission, which would enable the exploration of another KBO in the 100- to 150-km-size class. The mission payload includes 11 instruments: Panchromatic and Color High-Resolution Imager; Low-Light Camera; Ultra-Violet Spectrometer; Near-Infrared (IR) Spectrometer; Thermal IR Camera; Radio Frequency Spectrometer; Mass Spectrometer; Altimeter; Sounding Radar; Magnetometer; and Plasma Spectrometer. The nominal cost of this mission is $3.0B, making it a large strategic science mission.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2102.08282,
title = {Persephone: A Pluto-System Orbiter and Kuiper Belt Explorer},
author = {Carly Howett and Stuart Robbins and Bryan J. Holler and Amanda Hendrix and Karl Fielhauer and Mark Perry and Fazle Siddique and Clint Apland and James Leary and S. Alan Stern and Heather Elliott and Francis Nimmo and Simon B. Porter and Silvia Protopapa and Kelsi N. Singer and Orenthal J. Tucker and Anne J. Verbiscer and Bruce Andrews and Stewart Bushman and Adam Crifasi and Doug Crowley and Clint Edwards and Carolyn M. Ernst and Blair Fonville and David Frankford and Dan Gallagher and Mark Holdridge and Jack Hunt and J. J. Kavelaars and Chris Krupiarz and Jimmy Kuhn and William McKinnon and Hari Nair and David Napolillo and Jon Pineau and Jani Radebaugh and Rachel Sholder and John Spencer and Adam Thodey and Samantha Walters and Bruce Williams and Robert J. Wilson and Leslie A. Young},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2102.08282},
year = {2021}
}