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Computing hour angle from mean equinox at beginning of nearest Besselian year to Greenwich meridian for RTCC predictor for Apollo Missions E, F, and G
Latitudinal distributions of upper stratospheric ClO measured by MAS during the three ATLAS missions are presented for northern hemisphere (NH) spring equinox in 1992, southern hemisphere (SH) early fall in 1993, and NH fall in 1994. The MAS ClO results are shown along with correlative MLS observations. The results of both instruments consistently show the same latitudinal features. The ClO maximum in the NH spring occurs at mid latitudes, whereas the latitudinal ClO maximum in both the NH and SH fall occurs at high latitudes. The volume mixing ratio maxima were significantly higher in the fall (0.7-0.8 ppbv) than in spring (0.5-0.6 ppbv). Qualitatively, these results are consistent with calculations of several 2-D models.
In this paper we report new results concerning the seasonal atmospheric evolution near Titan's poles and equator using the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). In previous papers (Coustenis et al. 2016 and 2018), after the 2010 equinox, we have monitored Titan's stratosphere since the beginning of the mission and reported recently on the observed strong temperature decrease and compositional enhancement above Titan's southern polar latitudes since 2012 of several trace species such as complex hydrocarbons and nitriles, which were previously observed only at high northern latitudes. This effect followed the transition of Titan's seasons from northern winter in 2002 to northern summer in 2017, while at that latter time, the southern hemisphere was entering winter. From 2013 until 2016, the northern polar region has shown a temperature increase of 10 K, while the south has shown a more significant decrease (up to 25 K) in a similar period of time. The stratosphere over the south pole of Titan shows a change in shape with a steeper positive slope and an increase in temperature in 2017 with respect to 2014, by 10-50 K in the 0.5 mbar-0.05 mbar pressure range, the larger 2017 temperatures observed in the higher atmospheric levels around 0.05 mbar, while in average the 70°S values return closer to the warmer ones found in 2012. While the south polar region is continuously enhanced since 2012, the chemical content in the north is showing a clear depletion for all molecules only since 2015 (Coustenis et al., 2018). We present here a complementary analysis of nadir spectra acquired by Cassini/CIRS at high resolution during the last year of the Cassini mission in 2017 and describe the temperature and composition variations near Titan's poles and at the equator over almost two Titan seasons. The 2017 data we have acquired and analyzed here are important because they are the only nadir ones afforded since 2014 close to the south pole at high resolution. They show no significant changes in the north with respect to 2016, but a large temperature increase in the southern polar stratosphere and a change in the temperature profiles shape while the South is also finally showing a related significant decrease in most of the abundances.
Surface brightness temperatures on Titan measured by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) aboard Cassini span the period from late northern winter to early spring. The CIRS observations cover all latitudes and can be used to study meridional changes with season. CIRS previously reported surface temperatures from 2004-2008 which were 93.7 K at the equator with decreases of 2 K toward the south pole and 3 K toward the north pole'. From a comparison of the equinox period with the earlier data, CIRS can now detect a seasonal shift in the latitudinal distribution of temperatures. Around the time of the equinox the meridional distribution was more symmetric about the equator than had been found earlier in the mission. The equatorial surface temperatures remained close to 94 K, but in the south the temperatures had decreased by about 0.5 K and in the north had increased by about 0.5 K. The CIRS equinox results are similar to what was seen near the previous vernal equinox by Voyager IRIS Z. The observed surface temperatures can help constrain the type of surface material by comparison with predictions from general circulation models. Of the three cases treated by Tokano t , our measurements most closely match a porous-ice regolith. As Cassini continues through Titan's northern spring CIRS will extend its temporal and spatial coverage and will continue to search for seasonal variations in surface temperature.
Uranus possesses the most extreme magnetic and rotational geometry in the solar system, resulting in a uniquely dynamic and asymmetric interaction between its magnetosphere and the solar wind. Here we investigate the diurnal evolution of the Uranian bow shock (BS) at equinox using global multifluid magnetohydrodynamic simulations constrained by Voyager 2 observations. The BS structure and variability are quantified using the stand‐off distance, terminator distance, flaring parameter, and BS parameter, enabling a systematic assessment of its global asymmetry over one planetary rotation. Our results show that the BS exhibits pronounced diurnal asymmetry that is primarily controlled by planetary rotation. Even under steady upstream solar wind conditions, the BS undergoes periodic expansion and contraction, reflecting rotation‐driven reconfiguration of the planetary magnetospheric topology. This diurnal modulation represents a remarkably large asymmetry in planetary BS geometry within the solar system. These results establish planetary rotation as the intrinsic primary driver of Uranus' BS dynamics at equinox and provide essential constraints for the design and formulation of future space missions to the ice giants. These findings also offer a unique framework for understanding shock physics in the abundant population of ice‐giant exoplanets.
Introduction: The current decadal survey published by the National Academies of Sciences has informed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to prioritize the study of the Ice Giants, especially Uranus. To gather the required data that addresses the science questions raised in this survey, a mission to Uranus with an orbiter and atmospheric probe must be designed. The Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) study, which the survey identified as the flagship mission of this decade, proposes a 2031 launch to take advantage of a Jupiter fly-by and utilizes a fully propulsive orbit insertion design with an Earth-to-Uranus transit times ranging from 13 to 15 years. This fully propulsive orbit insertion at Uranus will be very fuel expensive (wet mass percentages of around 60-70\%) thereby leaving less mass for the scientific payload and additional planetary probes. In addition, scientists are more interested in visiting Uranus before 2049, when the Spring Equinox will occur, as it allows studying Uranus seasons not seen during Voyager 2's flyby in 1987. A NASA Flagship-Class mission would require at least 10 years of lead time prior to launch thereby making the 2031 launch to take advantage of the Jupiter fly-by extremely challenging. The consequence of missing the Jupiter fly-by and launching in the late 2030s is the challenge of a fully-propulsive mission like UOP to have a feasible alternative interplanetary trajectory that reaches Uranus before 2050. As an alternative, to address the shortcomings of the fully propulsive mission, one can design a mission to Uranus using aerocapture. What is aerocapture: Aerocapture is an atmospheric maneuver that uses aerodynamic forces generated by flight within a planetary atmosphere to decelerate and achieve orbit insertion. Using aerocapture allows one to provide the change in velocity (Delta V) needed to slow down from the approach hyperbolic trajectory to achieve the desired captured orbit around the target planet using aerodynamic forces of the vehicle (lift and drag). Using aerodynamic forces instead of fully-propulsive maneuvers results in significant savings in the fuel. Furthermore, aerocapture can also allow one to consider interplanetary trajectories with higher approach hyperbolic velocities, thus reducing the mission transit times. Aerocapture as an enabling technology: To use aerocapture as an enabling technology for the Uranus exploration mission, one would require an integrated system-level design, including a Thermal Protection System (TPS), hardware needed for aerodynamic modulation, and autonomous Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) systems. Aerocapture has yet to be demonstrated, despite considering it for several past missions. Recent advancements in TPS and GNC capabilities show the potential for using rigid, heritage entry vehicle configurations already flown at other planetary bodies for Uranus aerocapture. Aerocapture can be a robust technology that can deliver spacecraft to Uranus science orbits while substantially increasing on-orbit payload mass (more than 40\%) that can enable robust atmospheric entry probes. Additionally, the aerocapture maneuver would reduce the interplanetary transit time by 2–5 years (15-30\%) relative to fully-propulsive orbit insertion. Recent work has shown that one can conduct a flagship-class mission in a shorter period than fully-propulsive missions if using aerocapture. What does aerocapture bring in for a Uranus Mission: Using aerocapture for a Uranus orbiter and atmospheric probe mission can provide one with considerable propellant savings. Spacecraft in interplanetary trajectories to Uranus typically need an Delta V in orders of kilometers per second to insert into science orbit. One would require thousands of kilograms of fuel to achieve such a Delta V using a traditional fully propulsive maneuver, leaving less mass for payload during the mission launch. Aerocapture can reduce the propulsion needs by dissipating energy in the sizable atmosphere of Uranus without a significant mass increase due to the need for an aeroshell. One can use the mass savings achieved using the aerocapture to reduce the launch vehicle requirements. In addition, one can also have additional science instruments on the orbiter or create a robust instrumentation suite on an atmospheric probe that can significantly increase the science outcome of the Uranus exploration mission. Furthermore, since aerocapture performance is relatively insensitive to increases in hyperbolic excess velocity, one can design the interplanetary trajectory to arrive at Uranus faster, reducing the interplanetary transit time and operations cost. All these savings, achieved using aerocapture, could help fit a larger class mission, such as the Uranus mission within a smaller capital, e.g., a Flagship-class orbiter mission in a New Frontiers class capital. Summary: This talk will provide an overview of how aerocapture can enable the Uranus exploration mission. Specifically, this talk will discuss the latest advancements made in the Uranus aerocapture study, such as investigating interplanetary trajectories with higher hyperbolic approach velocities and their implications on the aero heating and the TPS design, incorporating FNPAG (an advanced numerical-predictor guidance) and comparison of multiple navigation approaches. In addition, this talk will focus on mechanical design that can house more than one atmospheric probe and the six degrees of freedom simulation of aerocapture at Uranus. Findings from a recent NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)-funded activity studying the aerocapture as an enabling technology for a Uranus orbiter will be presented. Using the science payload recommended by the Decadal Survey for Uranus exploration, this work shows many improvements over the baseline fully-propulsive mission. These improvements include a shorter cruise phase, flexibility in launch opportunities late into the 2030s while reaching Uranus before the 2050 equinox for the desired science opportunities, and lower propellant mass needs. This talk will highlight how aerocapture can be utilized for Uranus science orbit insertion using a lower-risk, heritage entry vehicle configuration used extensively as a Mars entry, descent, and landing vehicle. Furthermore, this talk will explore how the demonstration of aerocapture at Earth can benefit the aerocapture-enabled Uranus mission.
For ten years the Sun-Earth Day program has promoted Heliophysics education to ever larger audiences through events centered on attractive annual themes. What originally started out as a one day event quickly evolved into a series of programs and events that occur throughout the year culminating with a celebration on or near the Spring Equinox. The events are often formal broadcasts or webcasts seeking to convey the science behind the latest solar-terrestrial mission discoveries. This has been quite successful, but it is clear that the younger generation increasingly depends on social networking approaches and informal news transmission for learning what is happening in the world around them. For 2010, the Sun-Earth Day team put emphasis on using informal approaches to bring the theme to the audience. The main event, a webcast from the NASA booth at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) annual meeting by the NASA EDGE group, took a lighthearted and offbeat approach to interviewing scientists and educators about Heliophysics news. NASA EDGE programs are unscripted and unpredictable, and that represents a different approach to getting the message across. The webcast was supplemented by a number of social networking avenues. The Sun-Earth Day program explored a wide range of social media applications including Facebook, Twitter, NING, podcasting, iPhone apps, etc. Each of these offers unique and effective methods to promote Heliophysics content and mission related highlights. The facebook site was quite popular and message posting there told the Sun-Earth Day story piece by piece. The same could be said of twittering and the tweetup held at the NSTA site. Has all of this been effective? Results are still being gathered, but anecdotal responses from the world seem very positive. What other methods might be used in the future to bring the science to a personal hands-on, interactive experience? Outcomes: Participants will: (1) Be introduced to the Sun-Earth Day program and its evolution through a decade of programs; (2) Hear about the methods used to communicate and educate through the years and how well they have worked; and (3) Be acquainted with the latest usage of social networking and informal education approaches and how well they have worked
Recent planetary mission assessments, such as the 2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey released by the National Academies of Science, have focused on the need for a flagship-class mission to the Ice Giant planets, particularly Uranus. The Uranus Orbit and Probe mission proposal was used by the National Academies of Science as the baseline while making its recommendation as the top flagship-class mission for NASA in the 2020-2030\'s. This mission which was based on a launch date of 2031 or 2032, used a fully-propulsive orbit insertion maneuver at Uranus (requiring 60-70% of total mass for propellant), and reached the planet after 13 years of interplanetary cruise before the 2049 equinox, a goal of the science community. A pre-2033 launch date is required to conduct a necessary Jupiter fly-by as the giant planet will be not be in the proper alignment for a later launch date. However, as the budget constraints of the NASA budget have pushed back the start date of a Uranus mission, a launch date of a flagship mission before 2033 seems unreasonable. Aerocapture, an orbit insertion maneuver that uses the atmosphere to decelerate, can reduce the propellant load needed for a captured orbit. Additionally, the aerocapture maneuver can decelerate safely while approaching the planet at higher arrival velocities, thus allowing a mission to use a highly energetic trajectory and reduce the cruise time by several years. An aerocapture-enabled solution has launch opportunities in the mid 2030's, including as late as 2038 to reach Uranus by 2049. This paper will discuss the feasibility of an aerocapture option for a Flagship-class mission to Uranus.
Recent planetary mission assessments, such as the 2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey released by the National Academies of Science, have focused on the need for a flagship-class mission to the Ice Giant planets, particularly Uranus. The Uranus Orbit and Probe mission proposal was used by the National Academies of Science as the baseline while making its recommendation as the top flagship-class mission for NASA in the 2020-2030\'s. This mission which was based on a launch date of 2031 or 2032, used a fully-propulsive orbit insertion maneuver at Uranus (requiring 60-70% of total mass for propellant), and reached the planet after 13 years of interplanetary cruise before the 2049 equinox, a goal of the science community. A pre-2033 launch date is required to conduct a necessary Jupiter fly-by as the giant planet will be not be in the proper alignment for a later launch date. However, as the budget constraints of the NASA budget have pushed back the start date of a Uranus mission, a launch date of a flagship mission before 2033 seems unreasonable. Aerocapture, an orbit insertion maneuver that uses the atmosphere to decelerate, can reduce the propellant load needed for a captured orbit. Additionally, the aerocapture maneuver can decelerate safely while approaching the planet at higher arrival velocities, thus allowing a mission to use a highly energetic trajectory and reduce the cruise time by several years. An aerocapture-enabled solution has launch opportunities in the mid 2030's, including as late as 2038 to reach Uranus by 2049. This paper will discuss the feasibility of an aerocapture option for a Flagship-class mission to Uranus.
The Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem has observed Titan for 1/4 Titan year, and we report here the first evidence of seasonal shifts in preferred locations of tropospheric methane clouds. South \polar convective cloud activity, common in late southern summer, has become rare. North \polar and northern mid \latitude clouds appeared during the approach to the northern spring equinox in August 2009. Recent observations have shown extensive cloud systems at low latitudes. In contrast, southern mid \latitude and subtropical clouds have appeared sporadically throughout the mission, exhibiting little seasonality to date. These differences in behavior suggest that Titan s clouds, and thus its general circulation, are influenced by both the rapid temperature response of a low \thermal \inertia surface and the much longer radiative timescale of Titan s cold thick troposphere. North \polar clouds are often seen near lakes and seas, suggesting that local increases in methane concentration and/or lifting generated by surface roughness gradients may promote cloud formation. Citation
In response to ESA’s “Voyage 2050” announcement of opportunity, we propose an ambitious L-class mission to explore one of the most exciting bodies in the Solar System, Saturn’s largest moon Titan. Titan, a “world with two oceans”, is an organic-rich body with interior-surface-atmosphere interactions that are comparable in complexity to the Earth. Titan is also one of the few places in the Solar System with habitability potential. Titan’s remarkable nature was only partly revealed by the Cassini-Huygens mission and still holds mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. The proposed mission concept POSEI-DON (Titan POlar Scout/orbitEr and In situ lake lander DrONe explorer) would perform joint orbital and in situ investigations of Titan. It is designed to build on and exceed the scope and scientific/technological accomplishments of Cassini-Huygens, exploring Titan in ways that were not previously possible, in particular through full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time. In the proposed mission architecture, POSEIDON consists of two major elements: a spacecraft with a large set of instruments that would orbit Titan, preferably in a low-eccentricity polar orbit, and a suite of in situ investigation components, i.e. a lake lander, a “heavy” drone (possibly amphibious) and/or a fleet of mini-drones, dedicated to the exploration of the polar regions. The ideal arrival time at Titan would be slightly before the next northern Spring equinox (2039), as equinoxes are the most active periods to moni-tor still largely unknown atmospheric and surface seasonal changes. The exploration of Titan’s northern latitudes with an orbiter and in situ element(s) would be highly complementary in terms of timing (with possible mission timing overlap), locations, and science goals with the upcoming NASA New Frontiers Dragonfly mission that will provide in situ exploration of Titan’s equatorial regions, in the mid-2030s.
Some preliminary mission studies are described along with the design, fabrication, and test of a breadboard model of an earth orbital, rotating gravity gradiometer with a design goal of 10 to the minus 11th power/sec sq (0.01 EU) in a 35-sec integration time. The proposed mission uses a Scout vehicle to launch one (or two orthogonally oriented) spin-stabilized satellites into a 330-km circular polar orbit some 20 days before an equinox. During the short orbital lifetime, the experiment would obtain two complete maps of the gravity gradient field with a resolution approaching 270 km (degree 75). The breadboard model of the gradiometer demonstrated a combined thermal and electronic noise threshold of 0.015 EU per data channel. The design changes needed to reduce the noise to less than 0.01 EU were identified. Variations of the sensor output signal with temperature were experimentally determined and a suitable method of temperature compensation was developed and tested. Other possible error sources, such as sensor interaction with satellite dynamics and magnetic fields, were studied analytically and shown to be small.
The Cassini mission has provided the best opportunity to date to extensively study the seasonal variation in Titan’s atmosphere, with observations spanning almost half a Titan year (𝐿𝑠 = 293 − 93°). An important feature in the Titan middle-atmosphere is the formation of a polar vortex. Observations have shown that an initially well-developed northern vortex enriched with trace gas species gradually breaks down after spring equinox as a new vortex emerges in southern winter. Here we use Cassini CIRS observations to derive the temperature and composition of the middle-atmosphere. We use the gradient wind equation to first estimate the mean zonal winds, and then the Potential Vorticity (PV) throughout Titan’s atmosphere over the timespan of the Cassini mission. PV is a useful diagnostic quantity for studying the dynamics of polar vortices because it is materially conserved for adiabatic and frictionless flows, and can be inverted to find all other dynamical fields. Our results show the formation of a strong zonal jet in the winter hemisphere, with wind velocities reaching 220 m/s, which is consistent with previous studies. An annular PV structure is also observed over the winter poles, whereby a ring of PV encircles a local minima over the pole. Such distributions are often found to be unstable without a restoring force, yet they are seen here in numerous observations in both the northern and southern hemispheres. A comparison with the annular Martian vortices shows that latent heat release from condensation or subsidence-induced adiabatic heating may explain the origin and stability of the annulus. Finally, we investigate the evolution of the size of the vortices and the role of strong PV gradients as a dynamical mixing barrier for trace gas species across the vortex edge. We find that longer lived gases are less confined to the vortex than those with shorter photochemical lifetimes.
Infrared spectra returned by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) are well suited for retrieval of the thermal structure and the distribution of aerosols in the Martian atmosphere. Combined nadir- and limb-viewing spectra allow global monitoring of the atmosphere up to 0.01 mbar (65 km). We report here on the atmospheric thermal structure and the distribution of aerosols as observed thus far during the mapping phase of the Mars Global Surveyor mission. Zonal and temporal mean cross sections are used to examine the seasonal evolution of atmospheric temperatures and zonal winds during a period extending from northern hemisphere mid-summer through vernal equinox (L(sub s) = 104-360 deg). Temperature maps at selected pressure levels provide a characterization of planetary-scale waves. Retrieved atmospheric infrared dust opacity maps show the formation and evolution of regional dust storms during southern hemisphere summer. Response of the atmospheric thermal structure to the changing dust loading is observed. Maps of water-ice clouds as viewed in the thermal infrared are presented along with seasonal trends of infrared water-ice opacity. Uses of these observations for diagnostic studies of the dynamics of the atmosphere are discussed.
NASA launched two rovers in June and July of 2003 as a part of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project. MER-A (Spirit) landed on Mars in Gusev Crater at 15 degrees South latitude and 175 degree East longitude on January 4, 2004 (Squyres, et al., Dec. 2004)). MER-B (Opportunity) landed on Mars in Terra Meridiani at 2 degrees South latitude and 354 degrees East longitude on January 25, 2004 (Squyres, et al., August 2004) Both rovers have well exceeded their design lifetime (90 Sols) by more than a factor of 4. Spirit and Opportunity are still healthy and continue to execute their roving science missions at the time of this writing. This paper discusses rover flight thermal performance during the surface missions of both vehicles, covering roughly the time from the MER-A landing in late Southern Summer (Ls = 328, Sol 1A) through the Southern Winter solstice (Ls = 90, Sol 255A) to nearly Southern Vernal equinox (Ls = 160 , Sol 398A).
In this paper we report new results concerning the seasonal atmospheric evolution near Titan's poles and equator in terms of temperature and composition using nadir spectra acquired by the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) at high spectral resolution during the last year of the Cassini mission in 2017 complementing previous investigations covering almost two Titan seasons. In recent previous papers (Coustenis et al., 2016, 2018), we have reported on monitoring of Titan's stratosphere near the poles after the mid-2009 northern spring equinox. In particular we have reported on the observed strong temperature decrease and compositional enhancement above Titan's southern polar latitudes since 2012 and until 2014 of several trace species, such as complex hydrocarbons and nitriles, which were previously observed only at high northern latitudes. This effect accompanied the transition of Titan's seasons from northern winter in 2002 to northern summer in 2017, while at that latter time, the southern hemisphere was entering winter. Our new data, acquired in 2017 and analyzed here, are important because they are the only ones recorded since 2014 close to the south pole in the mid-infrared nadir mode at high resolution. A large temperature increase in the southern polar stratosphere (by 10–50 K in the 0.1 mbar–0.01 mbar pressure range) is found associated with a change in the temperature profile's shape. The 2017 observations also show a related significant decrease in most of the southern abundances which must have started sometime between 2014 and 2017. For the north, the spectra indicate a continuation of the decrease of the abundances which we first reported to have started in 2015 and small temperature variations. We discuss comparisons with other results and with current photochemical and dynamical models which could be updated and improved by the new constraints set by the findings presented here.
Longitudinal structures in the Martian thermosphere and topside ionosphere between 150 and 200 km altitudes are studied using in situ electron and neutral measurements from the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Four time intervals are selected for comparison, during which MAVEN sampled similar local time (9.3–10.3 h) and latitude (near 20°S) regions but at different solar longitude positions (two near northern summer solstice, one each at northern vernal and autumnal equinoxes). Persistent and pronounced tidal oscillations characterize the ionosphere and thermosphere, whose longitudinal variations in density are generally in-phase with each other. Our analysis of simultaneous and collocated neutral and electron data provides direct observational evidence for thermosphere-ionosphere coupling through atmospheric tides. We conclude that the ionosphere is subject to modulation by upward-propagating thermal tides, via both tide-induced vertical displacement and photochemical reactions. Atmospheric tides constitute a ubiquitous and significant perturbation source to the ionospheric electron density, up to ∼15% near 200 km.
In the Voyager era storms on Saturn were observed predominantly in the northern hemisphere, however, in recent years storm activity has been confined to a narrow range of latitudes referred to as "storm alley" (approx.40degS planetographic latitude). Throughout Cassini's prime mission storms have been detected by two independent instruments: ISS through dayside images and RPWS using radio emissions from Saturn Electrostatic Discharges (SED's) (Dyudina et al. 2007). Analysis of these storms indicates that the cloud tops are in the 200 - 500rnbar altitude range. During Saturn's Equinox, in August 2009, lSS imaged lightning on the night side in storm alley when ring-shine was at a minimum (Dyudina et al. 2010). This study indicates that lightning may have originated as deep as the water cloud. Decently, Cassini/CIRS was targeted at storm alley while a storm, originally detected by amateurs, was ongoing (March 2010). Phosphine can be used as a tracer of vertical transport because it is a disequilibrium species that falls off with altitude in the upper troposphere. CIRS can measure temperature and phosphine abundance independently in the altitude range where these cloud tops occur. Early analysis of these data shows stronger phosphine absorption at storm longitudes. This is an indication that powerful updrafts were dredging material upward into the upper troposphere. The results of the analysis of the March 2010 CIRS observations of storm alley will be presented.