Extended Mission Overview
C. J. Hansen
10 July 2006
General Extended Mission Strategy
A general strategy is starting to take shape:
• The sun crosses Saturn’s equator in August 2009 - the first two years of
the extended mission (XM) should exploit these unique geometries, for
example
– Ring observations at equinox (requires reduction in inclination)
– Titan in eclipse
– Last chance for illuminated observations of the south pole of Enceladus
•
•
For the extended extended mission (XXM) the s/c should be put in one
or more Titan-Enceladus cycler(s)
An XXXM mission should put the s/c in a low delta-v use monitoring
orbit (which could be a cycler)
– Opportunity to observe seasonal changes and other types of change
(aeolian, volcanic?)
•
Needs of future missions should be taken into account, in particular
anticipating that Titan and Enceladus will be targets of future missions
– Seasonal changes are important to observe for atmospheric models
– Selection of landing sites
Note: we have lots of fuel! The estimate was recently revised to > 340
m/sec
Summary of Working Group Evaluations
PF2
Rings
MAPS
Icy
Saturn
Titan
Sum Columns
Multiply Columns
PF1
QB1
OFQ1
OF2
OB1
IB4
IF1
OF1
IB1
OB2
IB3
IB2
QX1
IX1
OX1
Row total
16
16
10
0
5
16
0
12
0
10
5
0
10
0
0
0
100
21
30
21
19
6
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
100
40
20
20
10
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
100
4.2
6.2
5.6
8.3
8.1
3.8
8.3
8.2
10.5
4.1
4.1
7
6.8
6.1
3.8
1.7
96.8
100
0
7
0
5
10
10
18
6
14
6
11
6
0
7
0
0
81.2
79.2
56.6
42.3
34.1
29.8
26.3
26.2
25.5
20.1
20.1
20
16.8
13.1
3.8
1.7
0
416640
0
0
12150
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
• 16 tours designed to-date, each 2 years in duration
• Icy sat’s evaluation somewhat misleading because early tours did not have
targetted satellite flybys
• PSG Executive Session recommendation was for tour designers to continue
with P, O, and Q family tours