Contributors: Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP (UMR_7154)); Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité); Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA); Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité); Groupe de spectrométrie moléculaire et atmosphérique (GSMA); Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences UMR_C 6112 (LPG); Le Mans Université (UM)-Université d'Angers (UA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Nantes université - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (Nantes univ - UFR ST); Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie; Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie; Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université (Nantes Univ); Department of Astronomy College Park; University of Maryland College Park; University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC); Department of Physics and Astronomy Leicester; University of Leicester; University of Idaho Moscow, USA; Southwest Research Institute Boulder (SwRI); PLANETO - LATMOS; Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS); Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Planetary Science Institute Tucson (PSI); Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA (UMR_7583)); Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité); European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC); Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA); Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires (PIIM); Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux Pessac (LAB); Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Department of Physical Geography Utrecht; Universiteit Utrecht / Utrecht University Utrecht; Department of Physics Imperial College London; Imperial College London; Department of Physics Stockholm; Stockholm University; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Tucson (LPL); University of Arizona; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH); Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas (LPP); Observatoire de Paris; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École polytechnique (X); Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Cornell University New York; Institute of Geological Sciences Berlin; Department of Earth Sciences Berlin; Free University of Berlin (FU)-Free University of Berlin (FU); Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Charles University of Praha; Univerzita Karlova Praha, Česká republika = Charles University Prague, Czech Republic (UK); Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD); Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X); Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS-PSL; École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL); Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL); Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL); Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E); Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES); Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences New Haven; Yale University New Haven; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel, MD (APL); Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" = Sapienza University Rome (UNIROMA); Aeolis Research; Department of Geological Sciences BYU; Brigham Young University (BYU); Space Science and Astrobiology Division at Ames; NASA Ames Research Center (ARC); Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences MIT, Cambridge (EAPS); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences; California Institute of Technology (CALTECH); DLR Institut für Planetenforschung; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt Berlin (DLR); Johns Hopkins University (JHU); School of Earth Sciences Bristol; University of Bristol Bristol; Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG); Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (Fédération OSUG)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
نبذة مختصرة : arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1908.01374 ; International audience ; In response to ESA Voyage 2050 announcement of opportunity, we propose an ambitious L-class mission to explore one of the most exciting bodies in the Solar System, Saturn largest moon Titan. Titan, a "world with two oceans", is an organic-rich body with interior-surface-atmosphere interactions that are comparable in complexity to the Earth. Titan is also one of the few places in the Solar System with habitability potential. Titan remarkable nature was only partly revealed by the Cassini-Huygens mission and still holds mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. The proposed mission concept POSEIDON (Titan POlar Scout/orbitEr and In situ lake lander DrONe explorer) would perform joint orbital and in situ investigations of Titan. It is designed to build on and exceed the scope and scientific/technological accomplishments of Cassini-Huygens, exploring Titan in ways that were not previously possible, in particular through full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time. In the proposed mission architecture, POSEIDON consists of two major elements: a spacecraft with a large set of instruments that would orbit Titan, preferably in a low-eccentricity polar orbit, and a suite of in situ investigation components, i.e. a lake lander, a "heavy" drone (possibly amphibious) and/or a fleet of mini-drones, dedicated to the exploration of the polar regions. The ideal arrival time at Titan would be slightly before the next northern Spring equinox (2039), as equinoxes are the most active periods to monitor still largely unknown atmospheric and surface seasonal changes. The exploration of Titan northern latitudes with an orbiter and in situ element(s) would be highly complementary with the upcoming NASA New Frontiers Dragonfly mission that will provide in situ exploration of Titan equatorial regions in the mid-2030s.
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