Explanipedia

Overview of the MMT 60-day GEER Experiment on Geologic Samples at Venus Surface Conditions Open

M. S. Gilmore, A. R. Santos, J. A. Balcerski, L. B. Breitenfeld, M. D. Dyar , et al. · 2025

Plume Activity on Europa: Current Knowledge and Search Strategy for Europa Clipper Open

Lorenz Roth, Erin Leonard, Kelly E. Miller, Matthew M. Hedman, L. C. Quick , et al. · 2025

The presence of cryovolcanic activity in the form of geyser-like plumes at Jupiter’s moon Europa is a much-debated topic. As an active plume could allow direct sampling by a passing spacecraft of a potentially habitable interior environmen…

Iron sulfate, sulfuric acid, and water are major components in Venus’ aerosols Open

Rakesh Mogul, M. Yu. Zolotov, M. J. Way, S. S. Limaye · 2025

IntroductionIn this work, we describe new and transformative insights into the composition of Venus’ aerosols using uncharacterized data acquired by the Pioneer Venus Large Probe (PVLP), which descended through Venus’ atmosphere in 1978 [1…

SUDA: A SUrface Dust Analyser for Compositional Mapping of the Galilean Moon Europa Open

S. Kempf, Scott Tucker, N. Altobelli, Christelle Briois, Morgan L. Cable , et al. · 2025

Sulfur on Venus: Atmospheric, Surface, and Interior Processes Open

M. Yu. Zolotov · 2024

Sulfur-bearing species play crucial roles in atmospheric physical-chemical processes, atmosphere-surface interactions, and the geological evolution of Venus. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of (1) instrumental data on the ab…

Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-Surface (REASON) Open

Donald D. Blankenship, Alina Moussessian, Elaine Chapin, D. A. Young, G. W. Patterson , et al. · 2024

The Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) is a dual-frequency ice-penetrating radar (9 and 60 MHz) onboard the Europa Clipper mission. REASON is designed to probe Europa from exosphere to subsurface ocean…

Exploring the Composition of Europa with the Upcoming Europa Clipper Mission Open

Tracy M. Becker, M. Yu. Zolotov, Murthy S. Gudipati, J. M. Soderblom, M. A. McGrath , et al. · 2024

Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, harbors a subsurface liquid water ocean; the prospect of this ocean being habitable motivates further exploration of the moon with the upcoming NASA Europa Clipper mission. Key among the mission goals is a compr…

Science Overview of the Europa Clipper Mission Open

R. T. Pappalardo, B. J. Buratti, H. Korth, D. A. Senske, D. L. Blaney , et al. · 2024

The goal of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is to assess the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. After entering Jupiter orbit in 2030, the flight system will collect science data while flying past Europa 49 times at typical closest approa…

Thresholds of Temperature and Time for Mars Sample Return: Final Report of the Mars Sample Return Temperature-Time Tiger Team Open

Mark A. Sephton, K. H. Freeman, L. E. Hays, F. Thiessen, Kathleen C. Benison , et al. · 2024

Funding: The authors would like to express thanks for the following support: MAS (UK Space Agency grants ST/N000560/1, ST/V002732/1, ST/V006134/1 and ST/W002264/1), EES (NERC grant NE/V010824/1), KCB (NASA grant 80NSSC20K0235), BC.

MASPEX-Europa: The Europa Clipper Neutral Gas Mass Spectrometer Investigation Open

J. H. Waite, J. L. Burch, T. Brockwell, D. T. Young, G. Miller , et al. · 2024

The MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX) is a high-mass-resolution, high-sensitivity, multi-bounce time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MBTOF) capable of measuring minor species with abundances of sub-parts-per-million in Euro…

Possible Effects of Volcanic Eruptions on the Modern Atmosphere of Venus Open

Colin Wilson, Emmanuel Marcq, Cédric Gillmann, Thomas Widemann, Oleg Korablev , et al. · 2024

This work reviews possible signatures and potential detectability of present-day volcanically emitted material in the atmosphere of Venus. We first discuss the expected composition of volcanic gases at present time, addressing how this is …

The Europa Clipper MASPEX Investigation Open

J. H. Waite, J. L. Burch, Tim Brockwell, D. T. Young, Kelly E. Miller , et al. · 2024

The MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX) is a multi-bounce time-of-flight neutral gas mass spectrometer with unprecedented spaceborne mass resolution and sensitivity. It is capable of measuring and identifying minor and tra…

Investigating Europa’s Habitability with the Europa Clipper Open

S. Vance, K. L. Craft, Everett L. Shock, B. E. Schmidt, J. I. Lunine , et al. · 2023

The Long-Term Evolution of the Atmosphere of Venus: Processes and Feedback Mechanisms Open

C. Gillmann, M. J. Way, Guillaume Avice, D. Breuer, Gregor Golabek , et al. · 2022

Formation and evolution of carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu: Direct evidence from returned samples Open

Tomoki Nakamura, Megumi Matsumoto, Kana Amano, Yuma Enokido, M. E. Zolensky , et al. · 2022

Samples of the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu were brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We analyzed 17 Ryugu samples measuring 1 to 8 millimeters. Carbon dioxide–bearing water inclusions are present within a pyrrhotite crystal, indic…

Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission Open

J. B. Garvin, Stephanie Getty, Giada Arney, Natasha M. Johnson, Erika Köhler , et al. · 2022

The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission described herein has been selected for flight to Venus as part of the NASA Discovery Program. DAVINCI will be the first mission to Venus to in…

The long-term evolution of the atmosphere of Venus: processes and feedback mechanisms Open

C. Gillmann, M. J. Way, Guillaume Avice, D. Breuer, Gregor Golabek , et al. · 2022

This work reviews the long-term evolution of the atmosphere of Venus, and modulation of its composition by interior-exterior cycling. The formation and evolution of Venus's atmosphere, leading to contemporary surface conditions, remain hot…

Field investigations of salt partitioning and aqueous chemistry of freezing closed-basin lakes in Mongolia as terrestrial analogs of subsurface brine reservoirs on icy bodies Open