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1 Introduction to Planetary Science
Pages 31-50

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From page 31... ... Similarly, studies of the crater-pocked surface of the Moon led to current understanding of the key role played by impacts in shaping planetary environments. The insights derived from studies of lunar craters led to the realization that destructive impacts have wreaked havoc on Earth in the distant past, and as recently as 100 years ago a devastating blast in Siberia leveled trees over an area the size of metropolitan Washington, D.C. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... If the list is expanded to include nations with some space-based capacity -- those that use spacecraft data, build spacecraft instruments, operate relevant ground-based facilities, or contribute in some other way to the advancement of planetary science -- planetary science encompasses the globe. This chapter reviews the recommendations of the 2003 planetary science decadal survey and summarizes some of the most exciting recent scientific achievements. Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... New Horizons explores a completely new region of the solar system, the Kuiper belt, a region discovered by ground-based observers. Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... 2. South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return -- a mission to return a sample from the oldest and deepest impact basin on the Moon. Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... The subsequent report, Opening New Frontiers in Space: Choices for the Next New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity,5 identified five additional candidates. They were, in alphabetical order: • Asteroid Rover/Sample Return -- a mission to rendezvous with an asteroid, land, collect surface samples, and return them to Earth for analysis. Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... 36 VISION AND VOYAGES FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE FIGURE 1.3 The nucleus of comet Tempel 1 at the moment it was struck by the impactor from the Deep Impact spacecraft on July 4, 2005. This was a Discovery mission. Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... The MAVEN mission, selected for the second and final Mars Scout launch opportunity, addresses the goals of this concept. Research Infrastructure In addition to identifying high-priority spacecraft missions, the 2003 decadal survey singled out two important new pieces of ground-based research infrastructure. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... . RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN PLANETARY SCIENCE Twelve discoveries made since the publication of the 2003 planetary science decadal survey illustrate the vitality and diversity of planetary science. Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... Apollo samples now show the Moon's interior as holding more water than thought. Observations from Lunar Prospector, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LCROSS, Cassini, and Chandrayaan-1 also suggest small, but significant, quantities of water on the Moon, including exospheric and exogenic water generated by solar wind proton reduction and cometary deposits in the extremely cold regions of the lunar poles. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... The synergistic combination of data from landers and orbiters has been a key aspect of the Mars science activities conducted in the past decade. SOURCE: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... These deposits are a major reservoir of martian water, and because of oscillating climate conditions, potentially lead to geologically brief periods of locally available liquid water. • An active meteorological cycle involving liquid methane on Titan. Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... Observations by the Cassini spacecraft have revealed anomalous sources of geothermal energy coincident with curious rifts in the south polar region of Enceladus. The energy source appears to be responsible for plumes of ice particles and organic materials that emanate from discrete locations along the rifts. Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... Other discoveries, such as the realization that cometary dust contains minerals that must have formed at high temperatures close to the Sun, came from small spacecraft costing a fraction of the cost of a flagship mission. Additional discoveries were made with ground-based telescopes supported by NSF and other national science agencies. Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... Right: Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. SCOPE OF THIS REPORT The scientific scope of this report spans two dimensions: first, the principal scientific disciplines that collectively encompass the ground- and space-based elements of planetary science: i.e., planetary astronomy, geology, geophysics, atmospheric science, magnetohydrodynamics, celestial mechanics, and astrobiology; and second, the physical territory within the committee's purview, the solar system's principal constituents. Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... , and the Hubble Space Telescope Pluto Companion Search Team. • The major rocky bodies in the inner solar system: Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and Mars; • The giant planets in the outer solar system -- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune -- including their rings and magnetospheres; • The satellites of the giant planets; and • Primitive solar system bodies: the comets, asteroids, satellites of Mars, interplanetary dust, meteorites, Centaurs, Trojans, and Kuiper belt objects. Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... • Priorities for spacecraft missions to the Moon, Mars, and other solar system bodies were treated in a unified manner with no predetermined "set-asides" for specific bodies. This approach differs distinctly from the ground rules for the 2003 planetary science decadal survey, in which missions to Mars were prioritized separately. Read the entire page →
From page 47... ... The priority questions introduced in Chapter 3 are then developed and refined for the primitive bodies, the inner planets, Mars, the giant planets, and the satellites of the giant planets in Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively. • Inventory of the top-level science questions that should guide NASA flight mission investigations and supporting research programs and NSF's activities -- presented in Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and summarized in Chapter 3. Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 48 VISION AND VOYAGES FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE Chapter 1 Introduc) on to Planetary Science Chapter 2 Na) Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... Chapters 4 through 8 lay out questions best addressed by visits to the inner planets, to Mars, to the giant planets and their satellites, and to primitive bodies such as asteroids and comets, and begin to define the missions that can gather the data that can answer specific aspects of important questions. Thus, readers with a deeper interest in current planetary science research activities should concentrate on Chapters 4 through 8 and then move on to the discussion of high-priority spacecraft missions in Chapter 9. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... 2003. The Sun to the Earth -- and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space . Read the entire page →

From page 31...

... Similarly, studies of the crater-pocked surface of the Moon led to current understanding of the key role played by impacts in shaping planetary environments. The insights derived from studies of lunar craters led to the realization that destructive impacts have wreaked havoc on Earth in the distant past, and as recently as 100 years ago a devastating blast in Siberia leveled trees over an area the size of metropolitan Washington, D.C.

1 Introduction to Planetary Science Pages 31-50

1 Introduction to Planetary Science
Pages 31-50