Ice giant system exploration in the 2020s: an introduction
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The international planetary science community met in London in January 2020, united in the goal of realizing the first dedicated robotic mission to the distant ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, as the only major class of solar system planet yet to be comprehensively explored. Ice-giant-sized worlds appear to be a common outcome of the planet formation process, and pose unique and extreme tests to our understanding of exotic water-rich planetary interiors, dynamic and frigid atmospheres, complex magnetospheric configurations, geologically-rich icy satellites (both natural and captured), and delicate planetary rings. This article introduces a special issue on ice giant system exploration at the start of the 2020s. We review the scientific potential and existing mission design concepts for an ambitious international partnership for exploring Uranus and/or Neptune in the coming decades.
Date Issued
2020-12-25
Date Acceptance
2020-11-01
Citation
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2020, 378 (2187), pp.1-11
ISSN
1364-503X
Publisher
The Royal Society
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume
378
Issue
2187
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
Sponsor
The Royal Society
Identifier
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2019.0473
Grant Number
UF150547
Subjects
General Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2020-11-09