Related papers: Europa Exploration Philosophy
In recent years, robotic exploration has become increasingly important in planetary exploration. One area of particular interest for exploration is Martian lava tubes, which have several distinct features of interest. First, it is theorized…
Deep underground laboratories are the only places where the extremely low background radiation level required for most experiments looking for rare events in physics and astroparticle physics can be achieved. Underground sites are also the…
Many rocky exoplanets are heavier and larger than Earth, so-called "Super-Earths". Some of these may be habitable, and a few may be inhabited by Super-Earthlings. Due to the higher surface gravity on these worlds, space-flight is much more…
Europa is an icy ocean world, differentiated into a floating ice shell and solid interior, separated by a global ocean. The classical spin-orbit coupling problem considers a satellite as a single rigid body, but in the case of Europa, the…
We show that the European airspace can be represented as a multi-scale traffic network whose nodes are airports, sectors, or navigation points and links are defined and weighted according to the traffic of flights between the nodes. By…
The ice giants Uranus and Neptune are the least understood class of planets in our solar system but the most frequently observed type of exoplanets. Presumed to have a small rocky core, a deep interior comprising ~70% heavy elements…
The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) is a 4-m class survey telescope for wide-field near-infrared imaging. VISTA is currently running a suite of six public surveys, which will…
The five classical Uranian moons are possible ocean worlds that exhibit bizarre geologic landforms, hinting at recent surface-interior communication. However, Uranus' classical moons, as well as its ring moons and irregular satellites,…
Efficient autonomous exploration in large-scale environments remains challenging due to the high planning computational cost and low-speed maneuvers. In this paper, we propose a fast and computationally efficient dual-layer exploration…
Images of Europa's surface taken by the Galileo Solid State Imager (SSI) show smooth features measuring a few kilometers, potentially resulting from eruptions of low-viscosity material such as liquid cryomagma. We estimated the volume of…
This paper briefly reviews some of the exciting studies of the local Universe that will be enabled with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). As illustrative examples, it summarizes a few of the scientific goals that have been set…
The "Airships: A New Horizon for Science" study at the Keck Institute for Space Studies investigated the potential of a variety of airships currently operable or under development to serve as observatories and science instrumentation…
There is a growing interest in Lunar exploration fed by the perception that the Moon can be made accessible to low-cost missions in the next decade. The on-going projects to set a communications relay in Lunar orbit and a deep space…
Experience in exploring our own solar system has shown that direct investigation of planetary bodies using space probes invariably yields scientific knowledge not otherwise obtainable. In the case of exoplanets, such direct investigation…
Physical processing of Europan surface water ice by thermal relaxation, charged particle bombardment, and possible cryovolcanic activity can alter the percentage of the crystalline form of water ice compared to that of the amorphous form of…
Euclid is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission designed to constrain the properties of dark energy and gravity via weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering. It will carry out a wide area imaging and spectroscopy survey in visible…
Europe monitors transits using radiation detectors to prevent illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The SCINTILLA project aims to develop a toolbox of innovative technologies designed to address different usage cases. This article will…
The endeavor of interstellar exploration is a convergence of technical innovation and profound ethical inquiry, challenging humanity to extend its reach beyond the confines of our solar system while contemplating the moral implications of…
Europa's icy surface likely overlies an ocean, but the ice thickness is not known. Here we model the temporal growth of a Europan shell of pure ice subject to varying ice-ocean heat fluxes, ice rheologies, and internal heating rates. Both…
This is a mission to explore the surface of Venus from low altitudes. The Calypso Venus Scout consists of a high-altitude balloon and a instrumented Descent Module (DM). The DM is deployed to an altitude of 10-25 km by means of a Tether…