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Article Dans Une Revue Experimental Astronomy Année : 2009

KRONOS : exploring the depths of Saturn with probes and remote sensing through an international mission

1 CRPG - Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques
2 OCA - Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
3 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics
4 Department of Physics and Astronomy [UCL London]
5 Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
6 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
7 University of Idaho [Moscow, USA]
8 AOSS - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor]
9 NKUA - National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
10 Cornell University [New York]
11 OU - The Open University [Milton Keynes]
12 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
13 CESR - Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance UMR 7323
14 SwRI - Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio]
15 New Mexico State University
16 AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
17 SA - Service d'aéronomie
18 UCF - University of Central Florida [Orlando]
19 Instituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
20 Imperial College London
21 The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach
22 JIVE ERIC - Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe
23 UPV/EHU - Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne]
24 DLR - Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
25 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]
26 Laboratoire Magie
27 AEI - Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
28 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
29 Department of Planetary Sciences [Tucson]
30 Laboratoire de Géochimie et Cosmochimie
31 University of London [London]
32 Institute for Astronomy [Honolulu]
33 Clarendon Laboratory [Oxford]
34 IDES - Interactions et dynamique des environnements de surface
35 AI PANNEKOEK - Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek
36 IAP - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
T. Guillot
The Kronos Consortium
  • Fonction : Auteur
D. Banfield
S. Bolton
S. Charnoz
A. Jambon
  • Fonction : Auteur
J. Lunine
M. Moreira
D. Stam

Résumé

Kronos is a mission aimed to measure in situ the chemical and isotopic compositions of the Saturnian atmosphere with two probes and also by remote sensing, in order to understand the origin, formation, and evolution of giant planets in general, including extrasolar planets. The abundances of noble gases, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and their compounds, as well as of the D/H, 4He/3He, 22Ne/21Ne/20Ne, 36Ar/38Ar, 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 18O/(17O)/16O, 136Xe/134Xe/132Xe/130Xe/129Xe isotopic ratios will be measured by mass spectrometry on two probes entering the atmosphere of Saturn at two different locations near mid-latitudes, down to a pressure of 10 Bar. The global composition of Saturn will be investigated through these measurements, together with microwave radiometry determination of H2O and NH3 and their 3D variations. The dynamics of Saturn’s atmosphere will be investigated from: (1) measurements of pressure, temperature, vertical distribution of clouds and wind speed along the probes’ descent trajectories, and (2) determination of deep winds, differential rotation and convection with combined probe, gravity and radiometric measurements. Besides these primary goals, Kronos will also measure the intensities and characteristics of Saturn’s magnetic field inside the D ring as well as Saturn’s gravitational field, in order to constrain the abundance of heavy elements in Saturn’s interior and in its central core. Depending on the preferred architecture (flyby versus orbiter), Kronos will be in a position to measure the properties of Saturn’s innermost magnetosphere and to investigate the ring structure in order to understand how these tiny structures could have formed and survived up to the present times.
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Dates et versions

hal-00401509 , version 1 (03-07-2009)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-00401509 , version 1

Citer

B. Marty, T. Guillot, A. Coustenis, The Kronos Consortium, N. Achilleos, et al.. KRONOS : exploring the depths of Saturn with probes and remote sensing through an international mission. Experimental Astronomy, 2009, 23, pp.977. ⟨hal-00401509⟩
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