Ice Giant Systems: The Scientific Potential of Missions to the Uranus and Neptune Systems (ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper)

Leigh N. Fletcher (1) , Nicolas André (2) , David Andrews , Michele Bannister , Emma Bunce , T. Cavalié (3) , Sébastien Charnoz (4) , Francesca Ferri (5) , Jonathan Fortney (6) , Davide Grassi (7) , Léa Griton (8) , Paul Hartogh (9) , Ravit Helled (10) , Ricardo Hueso (11) , Geraint D. Jones (12) , Yohai Kaspi , Laurent Lamy (13) , Adam Masters (14) , Henrik Melin (15) , Julianne Moses , Olivier Mousis (16) , Nadine Nettleman , Christina Plainaki (7) , Elias Roussos (9) , Jürgen Schmidt (17) , Amy Simon , Gabriel Tobie (18) , Paolo Tortora (19) , Federico Tosi , Diego Turrini (20)

1 AOPP - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics [Oxford]
2 CRO2 - Centre de Recherches en Oncologie biologique et Oncopharmacologie
3 ASP 2019
4 AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
5 CISAS - Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali “Giuseppe Colombo”
6 UC Santa Cruz - University of California [Santa Cruz]
7 IAPS - Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF
8 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
9 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
10 Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Los Angeles]
11 Departamento de Fisica Aplicada [Bilbao]
12 BULLARD LABORATORIES,UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE - Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
13 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
14 MSSL - Mullard Space Science Laboratory
15 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester]
16 LAOB - Laboratoire d'astrophysique de l'observatoire de Besançon (UMR 6091)
17 Department of Bioorganic Chemistry
18 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112]
19 UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
20 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario

Uranus and Neptune, and their diverse satellite and ring systems, represent the least explored environments of our Solar System, and yet may provide the archetype for the most common outcome of planetary formation throughout our galaxy. Ice Giants are the last remaining class of planet in our system to have a dedicated orbital mission. This white paper describes how such a mission could explore their origins, ice-rich interiors, dynamic atmospheres, unique magnetospheres, and myriad icy satellites, to address questions at the very heart of modern planetary science. These two worlds are superb examples of how planets with shared origins can exhibit remarkably different evolutionary paths: Neptune as the archetype for Ice Giants, Uranus as the oddball. Exploring Uranus' natural satellites and Neptune's captured moon Triton could reveal how Ocean Worlds form and remain active, redefining the extent of the habitable zone in our Solar System. For these reasons and more, we propose that an Ice Giant System mission should become a strategic cornerstone spacecraft for ESA in the Voyage 2050 programme.

Mots clés: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Leigh N. Fletcher, Nicolas André, David Andrews, Michele Bannister, Emma Bunce, et al.. Ice Giant Systems: The Scientific Potential of Missions to the Uranus and Neptune Systems (ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper). 2019. ⟨hal-02179636⟩