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KBO Discovery Mission Michael Crawford Ben Klein Laura Weber What is the Kuiper Belt? • Disc-shaped region of icy bodies Has 3 dwarf planets (Pluto) • Includes comets beyond orbit of Neptune • Similar to asteroid belt, but far larger • Consists of mainly small bodies, possible remnants from Solar System formation • KBO = Kuiper Belt Objects • Composed largely of frozen volatiles (methane, ammonia, water) What is the KBO Discovery Mission? • What has preceded it? New Horizons! • Planetary Telescope • Connections between weather and climate in giant planet atmospheres, satellites, and their external environments • Flexible launch dates; primary mission completed by mid-2024 Decadal Science Questions to Answer 1. Smooth Migration vs. Catastrophic Scattering? 2. Kuiper belt - Jupiter Trojan connection? 3. Pair-wise accretion vs. gravitational collapse? Decadal Science Questions to Answer 1. Smooth Migration vs. Catastrophic Scattering? 2. Kuiper belt - Jupiter Trojan connection? 3. Pair-wise accretion vs. gravitational collapse? 3 Science Objectives 1. Migration of the Giant Planets 2. Cause of Eruptions from Active Moons 3. Engine of Giant Planet Atmospheres & Space Weather Simple Mission Design • No new technologies • Two high-heritage science instruments: Telescope Characteristics MISSION 1: Small Bodies • Survey of Trojans, Centaurs, and KBOs • Thousands of known (and maybe some unknown) outer solar system objects • Infrared, visible color, and detection of frozen water MISSION 1: Small Bodies • Smooth Migration vs Dynamic Instability • Smooth - Jupiter Trojans originated near Jupiter or closer to the sun • Dynamic- Trojans originated from Kuiper Belt region MISSION 1: Small Bodies • Slow Pair-wise Accretion vs Gravitational collapse • Accretion- tiny particles collide and stick together • Collapse - mass accumulates through gravitational pull MISSION 2: Satellite Systems of the Giant Planets • Kuiper succeeds in understanding planetary satellites • Decadal Approach • Consequences of inaccurate data due to changing UV emissions MISSION 2: Satellite Systems of the Giant Planets • Endogenic and Exogenic Processes affecting moons • Are plumes brightness affected by Jupiter tidal effect, magnetosphere, or internal conditions like Earth’s volcanoes? MISSION 2: Satellite Systems of the Giant Planets • Io-Jupiter System • Abundance of plume and volcanic activity on Io • Sputtering effect caused by magnetospheric variability MISSION 3: Giant Planets Atmospheres & Magnetospheres • KUIPER will observer ice giants over different timescales • Focus on wind tracers, auroras, vortices, solar wind effects, and zonal jets MISSION 3: Giant Planets Atmospheres & Magnetospheres • Giant Planet Atmosphere Dynamics • Test the hypothesis that jets and eddies maintain a closed loop (over hours to years) • Characterize and study the rates and effects of small impacts • Test whether convective events replenish energy into these eddie-jet systems MISSION 3: Giant Planets Atmospheres & Magnetospheres • Determine the physics of magnetospheric and auroral processes of giant planets • Observe the effects of the solar wind vs internal processes in controlling the magnetospheres • Understand how giant planet magnetospheres vary to extrapolate to exoplanet systems Why Kuiper? • Kuiper acquires observations with cadences and sensitivities that current ground-based and space-based assets have not and cannot be allocated to do • Decadal science goals cannot be obtained with current resources • Kuipers mission is complete in 3 years Why Kuiper? • Time built into the mission for guest astronomers and targets of opportunity • Kuiper’s spatial resolution, spectral resolutions, far-UV to near-IR coverage, and substantial time-domain sampling will offer an efficient, affordable, and highly relevant facility • Data can be used to inform for other missions Why is this so important? "...a highly capable planetary space telescope in Earth orbit could be accomplished as a Discovery mission. Such a facility could support all solar system scientific research, not just that involving giant planets." ‐ 2011 Planetary Decadal Survey, p. 20 Thank you for your time!! -- questions?