Related papers: Ice Giants Pre-Decadal Survey Mission Study Report

We summarize the comet science provided by surveys. This includes surveys where the detections of comets are an advantageous benefit but were not part of the survey\'s original intent, as well as some pointed surveys where comet science was…

We advocate for establishing key scientific priorities for the future of Mercury exploration, including the development of specific science goals for a landed mission. We support the Mercury science community in fostering closer…

This paper presents UNAGI, a novel spacecraft mission developed by Spartan Space Systems, a student engineering team at San Jose State University, aiming for the first controlled landing on Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io. Inspired by…

The Roman Galactic Plane Survey (RGPS) is a 700-hour program approved for early definition as a community-designed General Astrophysics Survey. It was selected following a proposal call for science programs that would benefit from an early…

The Kepler Mission was a NASA Discovery-class mission designed to continuously monitor the brightness of at least 100,000 stars to determine the frequency of Earth-size and larger planets orbiting other stars. Once the Kepler proposal was…

The decade since Snowmass 2013 has seen extraordinary progress of high energy physics research performed--or planned for--at underground facilities. Drs. T. Kajita and A.B. McDonald were awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for the…

The search of life in the Universe is a fundamental problem of astrobiology and a major priority for NASA. A key area of major progress since the NASA Astrobiology Strategy 2015 (NAS15) has been a shift from the exoplanet discovery phase to…

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to maximise observing opportunities. We review…

These are the findings of the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) Figure of Merit (FoM) Science Working Group (SWG), the FoMSWG. JDEM is a space mission planned by NASA and the DOE for launch in the 2016 time frame. The primary mission is to…

Most major discoveries in astronomy are unplanned, and result from surveying the Universe in a new way, rather than by testing a hypothesis or conducting an investigation with planned outcomes. For example, of the 10 greatest discoveries…

The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey's highest recommended space mission was a Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) to efficiently conduct three kinds of studies: dark energy surveys, exoplanet surveys, and guest surveys.…

The core of scientific research is turning new ideas into reality. From the school science fair to the search for the secrets of dark energy, high-quality research consists of scientific investigation constrained within the scope of a…

This report summarizes the envisioned research activities as gathered from the Snowmass 2021 CF5 working group concerning Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: Cosmic Dawn and Before. The scientific goals are to study inflation and to search…

Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was adopted as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme to be launched in 2029. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will study what exoplanets are…

EarthFinder is a NASA Astrophysics Probe mission concept selected for study as input to the 2020 Astrophysics National Academies Decadal Survey. The EarthFinder concept is based on a dramatic shift in our understanding of how PRV…

THESEUS is a space mission concept, currently under Phase A study by ESA as candidate M5 mission, aiming at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and…

Following several recommendations presented by the Astrophysics Decadal Survey 2010 centered around the need to define "a future ultraviolet-optical space capability," on 2012 May 25, NASA issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking…

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, supports a dense atmosphere, numerous bodies of liquid on its surface, and as a richly organic world is a primary focus for understanding the processes that support the development of life. In-situ exploration…

The Lunar Gateway is expected to be positioned on-orbit around the Moon or in a Halo orbit at the L2 Lagrange point. The proposed Lunar Gateway is a game-changer for enabling new, high-priority lunar science utilizing Cu-beSats and presents…

This white paper submitted for 2020 Decadal Assessment of Plasma Science concerns the importance of multi-spacecraft missions to address fundamental questions concerning plasma turbulence. Plasma turbulence is ubiquitous in the universe,…