Planetary Penetrators - The Vanguard for the Future Exploration of the Solar System
From The Space Library
Author - G. Collinson et al
Co-Author(s) - G. Collinson; UK Penetrator Consortium
JBIS Volume # - 61
Page # - 198-202
Year - 2008
Keywords - Planetary Penetrators, Probes, Lunar Science, Moon, Europa, Enceladus, Titan, MoonLITE
JBIS Reference Code # - 2008.61.198
Number of Pages - 5
[edit] Abstract
The UK Penetrator Consortium is aiming to develop spacecraft weighing <15 kg, rugged enough to survive impacts with planetary surfaces at speeds of up to 300 m/s and bury themselves a few meters into the surface. A full-scale trial is currently under preparation, leading towards a proposed Lunar mission, called "MoonLITE", early next decade. Detectors for volatiles aboard MoonLITE will search for the presence of lunar water, whilst seismometers will measure the strength and frequency of moonquakes over the mission's nominal one-year period and probe the internal structure of the moon using simultaneous measurements of seismic waves that travel through the lunar interior. The consortium also has long term plans for more ambitious missions to Jupiter's moon of Europa, and Saturn's Moons of Titan and Enceladus as part of ESA's Cosmic Visions Programme. Key goals include the search for sub-surface oceans, the study of sub-surface geochemistry and seismic activity and the search for organic molecules of exobiological importance.
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