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ADS Bibliographic id: 2011ExA...tmp...91A

DOI: 10.1007/s10686-011-9251-4

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Experimental Astronomy 33, 2-3 (2012) 753-791

Uranus Pathfinder: exploring the origins and evolution of Ice Giant planets

Christopher S. Arridge 1, Craig B. Agnor 2, Nicolas André 3, Kevin H. Baines 4, Leigh N. Fletcher 5, Daniel Gautier 6, Mark D. Hofstadter 4, Geraint H. Jones 1, Laurent Lamy 6, Yves Langevin 7, Olivier Mousis 8, Nadine Nettelmann 9, Christopher T. Russell 10, Tom Stallard 11, Matthew S. Tiscareno 12, Gabriel Tobie 13, Andrew Bacon, Chris Chaloner, Michael Guest, Steve Kemble 14, Lisa Peacocke 14, Nicholas Achilleos 15, Thomas P. Andert 16, Don Banfield 12, Stas Barabash 17, Mathieu Barthelemy 18, Cesar Bertucci 19, Pontus Brandt 20, Baptiste Cecconi 6, Supriya Chakrabarti 21, Andy F. Cheng 20, Ulrich Christensen 22, Apostolos Christou 23, Andrew J. Coates, Glyn Collinson 24, John F. Cooper 24, Regis Courtin 6, Michele K. Dougherty 25, Robert W. Ebert 26, Marta Entradas 27, Andrew N. Fazakerley, Jonathan J. Fortney 28, Marina Galand 25, Jaques Gustin, Matthew Hedman, Ravit Helled 29, Pierre Henri 6, 30, Sebastien Hess, Richard Holme, Özgur Karatekin, Norbert Krupp 22, Jared Leisner, Javier Martin-Torres, Adam Masters, Henrik Melin, Steve Miller 27, Ingo Müller-Wodarg 25, Benoît Noyelles 31, 32, Chris Paranicas 20, Imke De Pater 33, Martin Pätzold 34, Renée Prangé, Eric Quémerais 35, 36, 37, Elias Roussos 22, Abigail M. Rymer, Agustin Sánchez-Lavega, Joachim Saur, Kunio M. Sayanagi, Paul Schenk, Gerald Schubert 38, Nick Sergis, Frank Sohl 39, Edward C. Sittler, Nick A. Teanby, Silvia Tellmann, Elizabeth P. Turtle 20, Sandrine Vinatier 6, Jan-Erik Wahlund 17, Philippe Zarka 6

(2012)

The "Ice Giants" Uranus and Neptune are a different class of planet compared to Jupiter and Saturn. Studying these objects is important for furthering our understanding of the formation and evolution of the planets, and unravelling the fundamental physical and chemical processes in the Solar System. The importance of filling these gaps in our knowledge of the Solar System is particularly acute when trying to apply our understanding to the numerous planetary systems that have been discovered around other stars. The Uranus Pathfinder (UP) mission thus represents the quintessential aspects of the objectives of the European planetary community as expressed in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025. UP was proposed to the European Space Agency's M3 call for medium-class missions in 2010 and proposed to be the first orbiter of an Ice Giant planet. As the most accessible Ice Giant within the M-class mission envelope Uranus was identified as the mission target. Although not selected for this call the UP mission concept provides a baseline framework for the exploration of Uranus with existing low-cost platforms and underlines the need to develop power sources suitable for the outer Solar System. The UP science case is based around exploring the origins, evolution, and processes at work in Ice Giant planetary systems. Three broad themes were identified: (1) Uranus as an Ice Giant, (2) An Ice Giant planetary system, and (3) An asymmetric magnetosphere. Due to the long interplanetary transfer from Earth to Uranus a significant cruise-phase science theme was also developed. The UP mission concept calls for the use of a Mars Express/Rosetta-type platform to launch on a Soyuz-Fregat in 2021 and entering into an eccentric polar orbit around Uranus in the 2036-2037 timeframe. The science payload has a strong heritage in Europe and beyond and requires no significant technology developments.

1:	Mullard Space Science Laboratory
	University College of London (UCL)
2:	School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London
	Queen Mary University of London
3:	Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR)
	CNRS : UMR5187 – Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées – INSU – Université Paul Sabatier [UPS] - Toulouse III
4:	Jet Propulsion Laboratory [NASA] (JPL)
	NASA – California Institute of Technology
5:	Department of Physics, University of Oxford (AOPP)
	University of Oxford
6:	Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA)
	CNRS : UMR8109 – INSU – Observatoire de Paris – Université Pierre et Marie Curie [UPMC] - Paris VI – Université Paris VII - Paris Diderot
7:	Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS)
	CNRS : UMR8617 – INSU – Université Paris XI - Paris Sud
8:	Institut UTINAM (Univers, Transport, Interfaces, Nanostructures, Atmosphère & Environnement, Molécules)
	CNRS : UMR6213 – Université de Franche-Comté – Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Besançon – INSU
9:	University of Rostock
	University of Rostock
10:	Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics [Los Angeles] (IGPP)
	University of California at Los Angeles
11:	Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester]
	University of Leicester
12:	Cornell University
	Cornell University
13:	Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes (LPGN)
	CNRS : UMR6112 – INSU – Université de Nantes
14:	EADS-Astrium
	EADS
15:	Department of Physics & Astronomy
	University College of London (UCL)
16:	Universität der Bundeswehr
	Universität der Bundeswehr
17:	Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF)
	Upssala University
18:	Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG)
	CNRS : UMR5274 – INSU – Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble I – OSUG
19:	Institute of Astronomy and Space Physics
	University of Buenos Aires
20:	The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
	Johns Hopkins University
21:	Center for Space Physics (CSP)
	Boston University
22:	Max Planck Institute for Solar Physics Research (MPS)
	Max Planck Institute for Solar Physics
23:	Armagh Observatory
	Armagh Observatory
24:	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
25:	Blackett Laboratory
	Imperial College London
26:	Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
	Southwest Research Institute
27:	Department of Science and Technology Studies
	University College London
28:	University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC)
	University of California Santa Cruz
29:	Beverly and Raymond Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences
	Beverly and Raymond Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences
30:	Dipartimento di Fisica "E. Fermi", Università di Pisa
	Università di Pisa
31:	FUNDP
	Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix (FUNDP) - Namur
32:	Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE)
	CNRS : UMR8028 – INSU – Observatoire de Paris – Université Pierre et Marie Curie [UPMC] - Paris VI – Université Lille I - Sciences et technologies
33:	Department of Astronomy
	University of California, Berkeley
34:	Department of Planetary Research
	Rhenish Institute of Environmental Research at the University of Cologne
35:	Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS)
	CNRS : UMR8190 – Université Pierre et Marie Curie [UPMC] - Paris VI – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – INSU
36:	Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL)
	CNRS : FR636 – Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] – CEA – CNES – INSU – Université Pierre et Marie Curie [UPMC] - Paris VI – Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Ecole normale supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris
37:	Université Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines (UVSQ)
	Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
38:	Department of Earth and Space Sciences
	University of California, Los Angeles
39:	Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research
	DLR

Research team: heppi

Subject

:

Sciences of the Universe/Astrophysics/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Physics/Astrophysics/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Keyword(s): Uranus – Ice Giant – Orbiter – Giant planet atmosphere – Ring system – Dynamo – Magnetosphere – Natural satellite

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From: Catherine Cardon <>

Submitted on: Thursday, 6 October 2011 16:29:50

Updated on: Tuesday, 1 May 2012 14:59:28