Publications (13)
The Science Case for a Titan Flagship-class Orbiter with Probes
Conor A. Nixon, James Abshire, Andrew Ashton +36
We outline a flagship-class mission concept focused on studying Titan as a global system, with particular emphasis on the polar regions. Investigating Titan from the unique standpo…
Tracing the source of carbon oxides on the large moons of Uranus
Richard J. Cartwright, Sasha Cryan, Rosario Brunetto +15
The Uranian moons Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon are enriched in CO2 mixed with CO, but the origin(s) of these carbon oxides, be they primarily native or radiolytic, remains u…
On the Origin of the Pluto System
Robin M. Canup, Kaitlin M. Kratter, Marc Neveu
The goal of this chapter is to review hypotheses for the origin of the Pluto system in light of observational constraints that have been considerably refined over the 85-year inter…
Assessing Ocean World Habitability with HWO
Richard J. Cartwright, Lynnae Quick, Marc Neveu +5
The instrument payload of the future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will span a wide range of wavelengths, including the ultraviolet (UV) region that cannot be easily accessed…
Revealing Callisto's carbon-rich surface and CO2 atmosphere with JWST
Richard J. Cartwright, Geronimo L. Villanueva, Bryan J. Holler +18
We analyzed spectral cubes of Callisto's leading and trailing hemispheres, collected with the NIRSpec Integrated Field Unit (G395H) on the James Webb Space Telescope. These spatial…
Community Report from the Biosignatures Standards of Evidence Workshop
Victoria Meadows, Heather Graham, Victor Abrahamsson +72
The search for life beyond the Earth is the overarching goal of the NASA Astrobiology Program, and it underpins the science of missions that explore the environments of Solar Syste…
Long-Term Evolution of the Saturnian System
Matija Äuk, Maryame El Moutamid, Giacomo Lari +5
Here we present the current state of knowledge on the long-term evolution of Saturn's moon system due to tides within Saturn. First we provide some background on tidal evolution, o…
Volatile Sample Return in the Solar System
Stefanie N. Milam, Jason P. Dworkin, Jamie E. Elsila +17
We advocate for the realization of volatile sample return from various destinations including: small bodies, the Moon, Mars, ocean worlds/satellites, and plumes. As part of recent…
JWST Reveals Spectral Tracers of Recent Surface Modification on Europa
Richard J. Cartwright, Charles A. Hibbits, Bryan J. Holler +9
Europa has been modified by a variety of geologic processes, exposing internally-derived materials that are heavily irradiated by charged particles trapped in Jupiter's magnetosphe…
Tidal Dissipation in Dual-Body, Highly Eccentric, and Non-synchronously Rotating Systems: Applications to Pluto-Charon and the Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e
Joe P. Renaud, Wade G. Henning, Prabal Saxena +4
Using the Andrade-derived Sundberg-Cooper rheology, we apply several improvements to the secular tidal evolution of TRAPPIST-1e and the early history of Pluto-Charon under the simp…
Call for a Framework for Reporting Evidence for Life Beyond Earth
James Green, Tori Hoehler, Marc Neveu +3
Ours could realistically be the generation to discover evidence of life beyond Earth. With this privileged potential comes responsibility. The magnitude of the question, "are we al…
The Science Case for Spacecraft Exploration of the Uranian Satellites
Richard J. Cartwright, Chloe B. Beddingfield, Tom Nordheim +14
The five classical Uranian moons are possible ocean worlds that exhibit bizarre geologic landforms, hinting at recent surface-interior communication. However, Uranus' classical moo…
The science case for spacecraft exploration of the Uranian satellites: Candidate ocean worlds in an ice giant system
Richard J. Cartwright, Chloe B. Beddingfield, Tom A. Nordheim +15
The 27 satellites of Uranus are enigmatic, with dark surfaces coated by material that could be rich in organics. Voyager 2 imaged the southern hemispheres of Uranus' five largest '…