Editorial to the Topical Collection: Ocean Worlds
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Editorial to the Topical Collection: Ocean Worlds Athena Coustenis1 · Rafael Rodrigo2 · Tilman Spohn3 · Jonas L’Haridon4
© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
We are at the beginning of a new era in the exploration of the outer solar system. Spacecraft have already visited each of the giant planets and made detailed observations of their major satellites. In 2017, the Cassini spacecraft ended its highly successful mission in the Saturnian system while the Juno mission has been investigating Jupiter since 2016. The New Horizons spacecraft revealed the Pluto/Charon system in 2015 and is now exploring the Kuiper belt. In parallel, NASA, ESA, and other international space agencies are considering the next major steps in the outer solar system exploration. Among these, the Jupiter Icy moon Explorer (JUICE), the first Large class mission of the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 campaign currently in development, will explore three satellites of the Jovian system – Ganymede, Europa and Callisto – to study the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants. NASA is also Ocean Worlds Edited by Athena Coustenis, Tilman Spohn, Rafael Rodrigo, Kevin P. Hand, Alexander Hayes, Karen Olsson-Francis, Frank Postberg, Christophe Sotin, Gabriel Tobie, Francois Raulin and Nicolas Walter
B A. Coustenis
[email protected] R. Rodrigo [email protected] T. Spohn [email protected] J. L’Haridon [email protected]
1
Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Paris Observatory, CNRS, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 5, place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon Cedex, France
2
Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), European Space Astronomy Center (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, Urb. Villafranca del Castillo, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
3
International Space Science Institute, Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
4
European Science Foundation, 1 quai Lezay-Marnésia, 67080 Strasbourg Cedex, France
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developing the Europa Clipper mission to explore the eponymous moon of Jupiter through several flybys and investigate the existence and characteristics of a water ocean covered by an ice shell. NASA also recently selected the Dragonfly quadricopter concept as the next New Frontiers mission (NF4) to investigate Titan. In addition, several other proposals with similar objectives and exciting concepts have been or will be submitted to space agencies in response to future calls. These investigations all tie into the astrobiological significance of the outer solar system. In looking for (the origin of) life in habitable worlds, the criteria to consider are liquid water, CHNOPS elements (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur), energy sources and a stable environment. These requirements are notably met on Earth close to hydrothermal vents on the seafloor, which likely constituted the cradle of life about 4 billion years ago. Ignored for some time to the benefit of the inner solar system objects (Mars essenti
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