UK planetary science community explore future mission to the Saturn system at Space Park Leicester
A mission to one of the most promising leads in our search for where life could exist beyond Earth has been explored at Space Park Leicester.
An international audience of 90 space experts descended on the University of Leicester’s £100m space research, innovation and teaching hub last week for a workshop to learn more about the potential future European Space Agency (ESA) L4 Mission to Saturn and its moon Enceladus.
With its global sub-surface ocean, unique chemistry, and internal heat, the icy moon is thought to be one of the best potential habitats for life. Previously, the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, made multiple flybys of Enceladus and discovered that plumes of water from the ocean are continuously bursting through cracks in the southern hemisphere’s ice shell into Saturn’s space environment.
Emma Bunce of Space Park Leicester, who is also Director of the Institute for Space and Professor of Planetary Plasma Physics at the University of Leicester, is part of the ESA L4 Expert Science Committee, and was among the experts who hosted the event.
She said: “The ESA L4 mission could potentially launch in the 2040s, with a science-based requirement to begin the mission in the 2050s when the southern hemisphere of Enceladus will be illuminated by the Sun. That would be around 50 years after Cassini’s discovery of the plumes in 2005.”
It was attended by representatives of the UK Space Agency, and included invited talks from key representatives: Zita Martins, of Instituto Superior Técnico – University of Lisbon, who is Chair of the ESA Expert Science Committee, and Martin Haag (ESA) who is the Study Lead for the ESA L4 Mission.
Zita Martins said: “The ESA L4 space mission is a unique opportunity to orbit Enceladus, sample material from its ocean-rich plumes, and deploy a lander on its icy surface, allowing the scientific community to build on the discoveries from Cassini, and within the vision of the European Space Agency to assess the habitability of this icy moon and search for potential chemical signatures of life.”
The event was hosted by the four UK planetary scientists who are currently supporting the ESA studies of the potential L4 mission. The ESA L4 Expert Science Committee members are Rachael Hamp, of the Open University and Emma Bunce, and ESA L4 Payload Working Group members Vassi Spathis, Institute for Space Fellow at the University of Leicester, and Carly Howett of the University of Oxford.
Vassi Spathis said: “We had a great response to our workshop held for the UK planetary science community at Space Park Leicester where we discussed science objectives and future instrument ideas relating to the mission.”
The workshop covered a wide variety of topics including seismology on Enceladus, biosignature detection, global thermal mapping of Enceladus, next-generation UV and X-ray instrumentation for the Saturn system, and potential magnetic field investigations for the mission.
Jo Morris, Project Manager within the National Space Science Programme for the UK Space Agency said: “The UK Space Agency is proud to be part of this event and support UK involvement on the L4 Enceladus mission continuing our long-standing commitment to space science. Our intention is to remain actively engaged and champion UK contributions every step of the way.”
The event was sponsored by the Institute for Space in collaboration with Space Park Leicester and the University of Leicester and finished with an open discussion and networking.
To explore Space Park Leicester partnerships, missions, residents, facilities, training programmes and innovation products, visit space-park.co.uk or to learn more about the University of Leicester visit le.ac.uk/.
Main image: Planetary science experts gather at Space Park Leicester