PEDRO

PRATA

ENCELADUS ORBITER

Enceladus Orbiter Mission

BACKGROUD
The CassiniHuygens unmanned spacecraft is a mission on planet Saturn and his many satellites launched on
15th October 1997. One of the satellites studied through several fly-by missions is the moon Enceladus. It is a
small icy body whose size can be compared against Earth and Moon on the following image:
Image 01

Enceladus was first discovered by William Herschel in 1789. Like earths moon, Enceladus is tidally locked on
Saturn which means the same face is always facing the planet. Enceladus is also one of the most reflective
objects on our solar system with an Albedo of almost 100% due to the fresh ice white particles on its surface
(Albedo measures the amount of light reflected from a surface). The distance between Enceladus and Saturn
is half the distance between the Earth and its moon.
At such close distance it is believed there are huge forces at play inside Enceladus along with other very strong
forces of the other moons around Saturn.
The analysis of the forces interaction between the planet, the many moons (at this moment more than 60
moons have been identified in Saturns system) and Enceladus indicates an unusually hot moon interior. This
process is known as Tidal Heating.
In the last several years the Cassini missions have provided new and more detailed information on Enceladus
that should make it a priority on space exploration.
The registered cryovolcanic activity on the South Pole, on depressions usually referred as Tiger stripes that are
on average 130 kilometers long, 2 kilometers wide, and 500 meters deep, revealed a warmer than expected
region and were also identified as the origin of the water and ice vapor jets containing Methane, Carbon
Dioxide and Nitrogen. Here is an artist interpretation of the Enceladus Plumes:

Image 02

The plumes provide a continuous replenishment of the E-ring by means of the volcanic eruptions on Enceladus
South Pole tiger stripes expelling Ice crystal and other compounds.
The abundant cryovolcanic activity on the South Pole contrasts with the older cratered filled North Pole of
Enceladus as seen on the following Cassini image:
Image 03

Although Enceladus is believed to be more than 100 billion years old, the stripes are only dated at half a
million years old which is considered very young in planetary geological terms.

KEY SCIENTIFIC GOALS

Future exploration of Enceladus intends to deepen our understanding of what has been found so far, namely
the plumes origin on the tiger stripes, the plumes composition and also Enceladus as the feeder of Saturns Ering. These are Enceladus Orbiter mission areas of investigation by order of priority defined in the Planetary
Science Decadal Survey on Enceladus Orbiter:
The nature of Enceladus cryovolcanic activity
The internal structure and chemistry of Enceladus
The geology of Enceladus
The interaction of Enceladus with the Saturn system
The surfaces and interiors of Saturns moons Rhea, Dione, and Tethys
Preparation for potential future landing on Enceladus

MAIN OBJECTIVES AND MEASEUREMENTS

A. Nature of Enceladus Cryovolcanic Activity
1. Study physical conditions at the plume source:
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Topography
Thermal output
Vent shape
Surface strength & roughness
Subsurface structure of tiger stripes
Cavern size & Subsurface lake
Particle size
Particle distribution and speed
Ice temperature

2. Chemical inventory of the plume gas and the presence of biological activity.
3. Plume dynamics and mass loss rates (Dust size, frequency, velocity; gas density, velocity ) :
Plume structure
Ejection rates
Particle velocities
Time variability (density, particle size, velocity)
Plume composition
4. Origin of south-polar only surface features
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B. Internal Structure and Chemistry of Enceladus

1.
2.
3.
4.

Measure gravity and magnetic field

Presence, physics and chemistry of the subsurface ocean
Tidal dissipation rates and mechanisms (image 4)
Chemical clues to Enceladus origin and evolution

Image 04

C. Geology of Enceladus
1. Nature and origin of geological features and geologic history of the moon.
D. System Interaction
1. E-ring formation
2. Modification of the surfaces of Enceladus and the other satellites
E. Other Satellite Science and Preparation for Follow-on Missions
1. Surfaces and interiors of Rhea, Dione, and Tethys other Saturn moons
2. Nature of potential landing sites in Enceladus

MISSION OPERATION
In order to start executing the Mission some steps need to be completed before.
Arriving to Saturn orbit would require 2 Earth flybys and 2 Venus flybys in order to gain momentum and reach
Saturns orbit. Saturn orbit insertion would be achieved 8 years after launch. Afterwards and before insertion
on Enceladus orbit the mission would consist of the following:

In order to reduce the speed of the probe entering Enceladus orbit, 12 flybys are planned for slowing the
spacecraft down. An additional 10 scientific passes are already planned after achieving the needed speed.
Due to Enceladus proximity to Saturn the orbit will probably be unstable.
The first 6 months in Enceladus the probe will be orbiting at an average of 184Kms distance from the moon.
The following 6 Months it will go closer to the moon at an average distance of 81km. After each flyby the
spacecraft will be immediately inspected and small maneuvers could be performed as to face the next flyby in
optimal conditions. Eventually the probe will deorbit and crash into Enceladus on an ancient crater filled part
of the moon to prevent Earth contamination in the new more cryoactive active parts of Enceladus.

Data recollection
When finally the probe is on Enceladus orbit there will be a daily connection to Earth. The Enceladus
spacecraft will be equipped with a 96Gb flash memory card that should be enough to collect and storage the
information gathered on the flyby. There will be a 5 Hour window of data transmission available.
CONCLUSION
Enceladus being one of few Solar System bodies with Surface activity in Cryovolcanic stripes on the South Pole
and most probably a subsurface salt water ocean presents an amazing opportunity to among many other
things find life outside Earth. Its an amazing prospect.

Additional material : NASA | Enceladus: The Newest Wrinkle from Saturn's Tiger-Striped Moon
Image 01 - Copyright WalterMyers (http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/saturn_0400b.htm)
Image 02/04 - images are property of Alexander P Clarke, licenced under a CC BY-SA 3.0 licence and were based on images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Image 03 - Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA and NASA