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These Upcoming Missions to Deep Space Have Us Stoked About the Future
From trips to Venus and Jupiter to investigations of asteroids and
methane-soaked moons, the future of space exploration looks incredibly
bright.
By
George Dvorsky
PublishedFebruary 28, 2023
Comments (8)
Conceptual image of Europa Clipper mission.
Image: NASA

Space exploration takes tons of planning, technological expertise, and
daring. And given the long timescales involved, they often require
considerable patience. Many upcoming missions to deep space aren’t
happening any time soon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be excited.

Our investigations of the final frontier have only just begun. Our
immediate neighborhood—the solar system—has barely been touched by our
species, with many places still grossly under-explored. Thankfully, a
number of missions planned for the coming years and decades will help us
to fill some of these gaps.

All of the missions described in this article have been approved and are
either already underway or currently in development. So barring
something unforeseen, they are going to happen. For clarification, we
deliberately chose to exclude missions to the Moon, not because they’re
uninteresting or unimportant, but because they’re amazing in their own
right and deserve a dedicated article.

Slideshow
2 / 12
JUICE, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
The European Space Agency’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer, or JUICE
spacecraft, is set to launch on April 13, 2023, atop an Ariane 5 rocket.
The probe will head to Jupiter, but its primary targets are three icy
moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. These moons are of great interest
to both planetary scientists and astrobiologists, as they feature
dynamic surfaces and possibly warm liquid oceans tucked beneath their
icy surfaces.

JUICE is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2031 following an eight-year
journey. The spacecraft will make history in 2034 by becoming the first
probe to fully orbit a moon other than our own. At 10,600 pounds, JUICE
is unusually heavy, but its 10 onboard instruments will undoubtedly
collect a dazzling array of data, including the chemical compositions of
each moon and their complex surface topography, among many other
measurements. Indeed, JUICE is poised to redefine our understanding of
the Galilean moons.

3 / 12
Psyche, a mission to a metallic world

List slides
Conceptual image of Psyche mission to a heavily metallic asteroid.
Conceptual image of Psyche mission to a heavily metallic asteroid.
Image: NASA
Set for launch on October 10, 2023, NASA’s Psyche will be the first
spacecraft to explore a metallic asteroid. The asteroid, also called
Psyche, measures 140 miles (226 kilometers) across and is located in the
main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists suspect the
asteroid of being the leftover core of a planetesimal, that is, the
initial building block of a solar system planet. In addition to testing
a new communications system, the Psyche probe will use its
high-resolution cameras to visualize the asteroid, use radio waves to
measure the object’s gravity, and employ a spectrometer to identify its
basic elements. Psyche will reach its target in 2026, where it will
orbit for 21 months. The probe was supposed to launch in 2022, but
mission development problems resulted in the delay.

SPACEFLIGHT
These Upcoming Missions to Deep Space Have Us Stoked About the Future
From trips to Venus and Jupiter to investigations of asteroids and
methane-soaked moons, the future of space exploration looks incredibly
bright.
By
George Dvorsky
PublishedFebruary 28, 2023
Comments (8)

4 / 12
Japan’s Martian Moon eXploration (MMX)
List slides
Conceptual image of MMX mission.
Conceptual image of MMX mission.
Image: JAXA
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has a neat mission planned
for later this decade called Martian Moon eXploration, or MMX. The probe
will visit the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, to test new
technologies and investigate these enigmatic celestial bodies.
Excitingly, the probe will attempt to collect surface samples from
Phobos and then return to Earth in 2029 with its precious cargo. JAXA
says MMX will “help improve technology for future planet and satellite
exploration,” such as tech needed for round-trips to Mars. There’s also
some important science involved, as MMX will seek to clarify the origin
of the two Martian moons.

5 / 12
Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids
List slides
Conceptual image of Lucy mission.
Conceptual image of Lucy mission.
Image: NASA
NASA’s Lucy probe launched in October 2021, and despite an annoying
problem with its power-supplying solar array, which didn’t deploy fully
after launch, the spacecraft is working properly. Lucy is currently en
route to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids—two discernable clumps of asteroids
that travel ahead and behind Jupiter along its orbital path around the Sun.

More on this story: 7 Things to Know About NASA’s First Mission to the
Jupiter Trojan Asteroids
Jupiter’s Trojans have been trapped in this configuration for billions
of years, making them tantalizing targets for scientific investigation.
As potential precursors to planetary formation, the Trojans could shed
new light on the ways in which organic materials and water were
delivered to Earth. The plan is for Lucy to investigate two main belt
asteroids prior to reaching the Trojans. The probe will begin its tour
of the Trojans in 2027, starting with Eurybates and its binary partner
Queta, followed by Polymele, Leucus, Orus, Patroclus, and Menoetius.
Lucy will investigate both Trojan clusters, which are located 500
million miles (800 million kilometers) from the Sun.

6 / 12
NASA’s Europa Clipper
List slides
Conceptual image of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.
Conceptual image of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.
Image: NASA
NASA’s Europa Clipper is slated to launch in 2024 and reach its target
in 2030. Once in orbit around Jupiter, the probe will perform nearly 50
close flybys of its moon Europa, coming as close as 16 miles (25 km) to
its icy surface. A primary goal of the mission is to spot potentially
habitable locations beneath Europa’s icy shell. To that end, the probe
will analyze Europa using an array of instruments, including cameras,
spectrometers, and ice-penetrating radar. With Europa Clipper, we’ll
finally be able to peer inside this fascinating frozen world.

7 / 12
Hera mission to re-visit Dimorphos
List slides
Conceptual image of Hera and its two cubesats.
Conceptual image of Hera and its two cubesats.
Image: ESA/Science Office
Hera is the sequel mission to NASA’s wonderfully successful DART mission
to deflect a harmless asteroid. To recap, DART—short for Double Asteroid
Redirection Test—smashed into the tiny Dimorphos asteroid in September
2021, altering its orbital trajectory around its larger companion,
Didymos, by a whopping 32 minutes (the team would’ve been happy with a
73-second change). The purpose of this exercise was to test a potential
planetary defense strategy against legitimately threatening asteroids.

Related story: NASA’s DART Is No More, but This Future Probe Is Hoping
to Take a Second Look
Scientists are still in the process of evaluating DART and its full
effect on Dimorphos, but the upcoming Hera mission, in which the
European Space Agency (ESA) probe will revisit the system in December
2026, will provide added color. Hera will evaluate potential changes to
Dimorphos’s orbital trajectory and surface composition, including signs
of a potential crater. The probe will bring along two companions,
CubeSats named Milani and Juventas, which will perform spectral analyses
of the lingering dust cloud created by the impact.

8 / 12
A Dragonfly on Saturn moon’s Titan
List slides
Conceptual image of NASA’s Dragonfly drone.
Conceptual image of NASA’s Dragonfly drone.
Image: NASA/JHU-APL
As NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has successfully demonstrated on Mars,
it’s possible for us to fly aircraft on other worlds. The next important
phase in this capability is Dragonfly—a rotorcraft that’s set to arrive
on Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034. Over the duration of its planned
2.7-year mission, NASA’s Dragonfly will explore Titan’s sand dunes,
study the moon’s complex weather and atmosphere, and hunt for signs of
prebiotic chemical processes. Dragonfly is expected to launch in 2027.

Conceptual image of NASA’s Dragonfly drone.
Conceptual image of NASA’s Dragonfly drone.
Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
The dual-quadrotor drone will have no difficulties flying through
Titan’s thick atmosphere, but it will have to endure temperatures as low
as -300 degrees Fahrenheit. Should all go well, Dragonfly will perform
around 25 flights and fly a total distance of roughly 110 miles (180
kilometers). Personally, I can’t wait for high-resolution images of
Titan’s methane lakes.

Screw it!
After the work of loading all the 'slides' when
I hit send, they got lost.
Screw it, go to the citation. It got good pictures.

Click here to read the complete article

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