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The next large class Science mission will fly to Saturn and land on Enceladus to search for signs of life past and present (www.science.esa.int)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by Buzztiger@feddit.nl to c/esa@feddit.nl

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If anyone is at the Open Day at ESTEC today there is a large surface model of Enceladus and the study team presenting the mission concept. It's in the Aldo van Eyck Building together with the other Space Science missions

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[–] burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

2042 launch? For a 2050s arrival? I'm hoping that the new big rockets make extra mass reliable and available enough to speed up transit times and simplify some engineering problems to make it possible to have more of these missions and finish them faster.

[–] Buzztiger@feddit.nl 0 points 7 months ago

Yes less transfer time is certainly beneficial. But for the arrival in the 2050s we are actually limited by the seasons and the amount of light. Enceladus spring starts around that time, it won't change much in terms of surface temperature (~100K) but before this time its even darker at the south pole. Its already only 1% of sun light so landing in complete darkness is making it even more challenging regarding visual navigation and scientific exploration.