Exploration of Ocean Worlds
I has been involved in several planetary mission and instrument concepts and teams. Teams that I have been part of and any relevant publications that I contributed to as a member of those projects are listed below.
NASA Europa Clipper Mission
Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)
Europa Clipper is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter’s moon Europa. There’s scientific evidence that the ingredients for life may exist on Europa right now. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) to reach Jupiter in April 2030. It will orbit Jupiter, and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa.
The Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) is a multi-frequency, multi-channel ice penetrating radar system that will be flown on board the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. REASON investigation will provide the first direct measurements of Europa’s ice shell surface character and subsurface structure.
Relevant Publications:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-023-00990-y
Tiger
Concept Study for a New Frontiers Enceladus Habitability Mission
Tiger is a mission concept developed during the 2020 Planetary Science Summer School at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Tiger is a flyby mission that would help further constrain the habitability of Enceladus through two science objectives: (1) determine whether Enceladus’ volatile inventory undergoes synthesis of complex organic species that are evidence for a habitable ocean, and (2) determine whether Enceladus’ plume material is supplied directly from the ocean or if it interfaces with other reservoirs within the ice shell
Relevant Publications:
Vertical Entry Robot for Navigation of Europa (VERNE)
Concept Study for a Europa Drilling Mission
The Vertical Entry Robot for Navigating Europa (VERNE) is a robotic mission concept to penetrate and operate within Europa’s ice shell and ocean funded through the Scientific Exploration Subsurface Access Mechanism for Europa (SESAME) program. SESAME requires a vehicle capable of penetrating a hypothetical 15km Europan ice shell within three years. VERNE will utilize a thermo-mechanical drill to descend into the ice while a suite of onboard sensors constrains ice properties and look for life by analyzing the meltwater.
Relevant Publications:
