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Posted by: Paolo Jul 9 2013, 05:12 PM

ESA has published a series of "white paper" studies on its next two large missions (L2 and L3), to be launched during the 2020s. pick your favorite!
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/doc.cfm?fobjectid=52029

I doubt a planetary mission will be selected for either mission, since L1 is the JUICE Jupiter-Ganymede orbiter, but you never know...

Posted by: Holder of the Two Leashes Jul 9 2013, 06:18 PM

This is a 120 MB download, with 587 pages, so depending on your speed it might take awhile. Nice document, though.

Personally, I'd vote for all of them. Not sure I'd want the job of whittling this list down to two.

Posted by: dtolman Jul 10 2013, 05:01 PM

I spent some time reading this during lunch, and for your viewing pleasure here is the first half summarized. Many of the missions seem well thought out with detailed mission information. A few read like something an undergrad wrote up in his spare time and hand wave the mission part away entirely. If anyone wants, I can write up the second half later.

pg 9 - Lunar Science as a Window into the Early History of the Solar System
(i) a mission based around multiple penetrators for the characterisation of lunar polar volatiles and (ii) a sample return mission to address the lunar impact chronology and records of the near-Earth Solar System environment preserved in regolith deposits. (lander may include rover, and dark side mission)

pg 20 - Exploring Planetary Origins and Environments in the Infrared
Infrared Space Telescope at L2 or L4/5 with either a 5 m off-axis design, or distributed spatial interferometer array of smaller 1 m dishes. In both cases the goal is imaging spectroscopy at low/moderate (R~10^3) resolution over an arcmin FOV; and heterodyne-­‐level resolution (R>10^6) in selected mid--IR and far--IR bands.

pg 49 - In situ exploration of the giant planets and an entry probe concept for Saturn
Atmospheric probe delivered by a carrier (carrier can be orbiter, flyby, or a dumb delivery vehicle) to Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.
Seems kind of vague to me -only the entry probe is thought out

pg 69 - Neptune and Triton: Essential Pieces of the Solar System Puzzle
Neptune Orbiter with multiple Triton passes. Mission components are based off previous designs (galileo and Cassini for orbiter, all instruments will be derived from pre-existing instruments on Mars Express, Cassini, JUICE, Rosetta, etc). Two planetary transfer examples are shown - 2028 launch, 2043 arrival and 2041 launch, 2056 arrival.

pg 89 - Venus: Key to understanding the evolution of terrestrial planets
we propose a strawman mission based on a combination of an in situ balloon platform, a radar-equipped orbiter, and (optionally) a descent probe

pg 109 - INSIDER - Interior of Primordial Asteroids and the Origins of Earths Water
Orbiter with lander, multiple asteroid targets for single mission

pg 127 - In situ Investigations of the Local Interstellar Medium
Nuclear powered interstellar probe. Goal is to get to 200 AU in 25-30 years, multiple possible propulsion systems (solar sail, nuclear-ion, etc)

pg 147 - The Exploration of Titan with an Orbiter and a Lake-Probe
Space-craft and lake-probe. Very few details on actual mission architecture, besides need for RTGs for lander. 2028-2034 launch.

pg 167 - Astrometry for Dynamics
A Gaia-like mission with improved onboard instruments/equipment (author apologizes for few details as he was on vacation when he received call for papers )

pg 175 - Europe returns to Venus
Venusian UAV or Balloon mission with Orbiter

pg 195 - Fundamental Processes in Solar Eruptive Events
Space based observatory. Author proposes using updated SEE2020 concept with sample instruments listed

pg 215 - European Ultraviolet-Visible Observatory: Building galaxies, stars, planets and the
ingredients for life among the stars
optical telescope with 4-8m depending on scope/cost, leveraging technology improvements since HST and larger mirror for all scenarios.

pg 235 - The science goals and mission concept for a future exploration of Titan and
Enceladus
Saturn-Titan Orbiter and Titan Balloon - smaller scale then TSSM and no NASA partnership needed

pg 255 - The Gravitational Universe
3 drag-free spacecraft forming a triangular constellation with arm lengths of one million km and laser interferometry between “free-falling” test masses.

pg 275 - SOLARIS: SOLAR sail Investigation of the Sun
Two solar sail craft with 35-50 kg of instruments each

pg 283 - Science from the Farside of the Moon
an instrumented relay satellite to be inserted into a halo orbit about the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange point, and several identical spacecraft that make soft landings on the lunar surface.

Posted by: dtolman Jul 10 2013, 07:16 PM

Oh what the heck, here's the rest. Some very ambitious proposals here!

pg 303, Light from the Cosmic Frontier: Gamma-Ray Bursts[/b
X-Ray and IR imager in one or two spacecraft

[b]pg 323, Stellar Imager
In French...but seems to require demonstration instruments on ground or in space working way up to space interferometer.

pg 331, Chronos: A NIR Spectroscopic Galaxy Formation Survey
a 2.5m space telescope at L2 optimised for a campaign of very deep NIR spectroscopy...the spectroscopic equivalent of a Hubble Space Telescope obtaining one Ultra Deep Field every fortnight for five years.

pg 351, Exploring Habitable Worlds beyond our Solar System
2-3m telescope with coronograph or external occultor, or space based interferometer (exact tech to be explored over next decade) with launch in 2034.

pg 371, Venus: A Natural Planetary Laboratory
two orbiters, balloon/uav, and short lifespan landers

pg 391, Space-Time Structure Explorer: Sub-microarcsecond astrometry for the 2030s
Gaia follow on.

pg 399 - DEX - Dark Ages eXplorer
two options:a space­‐based mission with swarms of nano-satellites as a giant interferometer and an inflatable space structure OR a lunar‐farside surface mission. Both require a 10 km^2 array size

pg 419, Solar System Debris Disk - S2D2
Infrared survey telescope with a follow-on in-situ dust analyzer and dust collector sample return mission

pg 439, PRISM: Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission
3.5 meter telescope at L2 - imager with spectrophotometer cooled to 4K. Will also include a small ancillary spacecraft for comms and calibration

pg 459, Sub-arcsecond far-infrared space observatory: a science imperative
20 m(!) deployable telescope OR array of telescopes used as interferometer

pg 479, The Case for an ESA L-Class Mission to Volatile-Rich Asteroids
Flyby or landing on multiple asteroids.

pg 499, The Science Case for an Orbital Mission to Uranus: Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Ice Giant Planets
MEX/VEX/Rosetta heritage orbiter platform with atmospheric entry probe. 20 orbits with flybys of all major satellites. 10-15 year cruise phase.

pg 519, Master: A Mission to Return a Sample from Mars to Earth
Mars Orbiter with Earth return module (and reentry capsule) and Lander with two stage ascent vehicle. Goal is to return of 50 cm^3 solids, 1450 cm^3 atmosphere. 2028 launch, 2031 return.

pg 539, Hypertelescope Optical Observatory
1 to 100km flotilla for direct images at microarc-second resolution on stars, exo-planets and deep fields. Flotilla of space telescopes arrayed from 100m^2 to 100km^2 long term.

pg 549, The ODINUS Mission Concept – The Scientific Case for a Mission to the Ice Giant Planets with Twin spacecraft to Unveil the History of our Solar System
Twin spacecraft launched in 2034 to orbit Uranus and Neptune respectively. 9-12 year cruise phase. More limited spacecraft, but won't need to wait 50(!) years to get orbiters around both planets and returning data.

pg 569, The Hot and Energetic Universe
Athena+ - X-ray telescope (3m diameter x 12m length) leveraging incremental advancements in technology since ATHENA mission first proposed for L1.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Jul 11 2013, 12:27 AM

My favorites: Anything involving Uranus and/or Neptune. There are a few such missions there but I haven't read the document yet so I can't pick any specific missions(s) from the lists above.

Posted by: Vultur Aug 27 2013, 03:19 AM

When is a decision likely to be made?

Uranus/Neptune is cool (especially since I'm not old enough to have seen Voyager 2 at those planets) but "In situ Investigations of the Local Interstellar Medium" sounds really interesting, too.

Posted by: remcook Aug 28 2013, 07:27 AM

http://sci.esa.int/cosmic-vision/51454-call-for-white-papers-for-definition-of-l2-and-l3-missions/
Schedule here

Posted by: brellis Aug 28 2013, 06:59 PM

My favorite concept for an outer planet mission would still be a mother ship stocked with dozens or perhaps hundreds of mini-probes that can be dropped and return information to the mother ship in a style similar to the Huygens probe. Considering how long Cassini has lasted at Saturn, wouldn't it be great to drop or plop a little science package into the lakes of Titan over a span of many orbits!

Posted by: vjkane Aug 29 2013, 06:05 AM

Decision expected by November for two concepts. Specific proposal for the first concept (to launch ~2028) will be next year. A European proposer told me that ESA picks concepts and then puts together the mission and science team, does the in-depth trade-off studies, technology development, followed by design, building, testing, launch, etc. This is different from NASA's Discovery and New Frontiers missions where the proposing team is ready to go at selection. This is why ESA is deciding now on missions for launch 12 and 18 years from now.

The Large missions (previously called Cornerstones) are roughly balanced between astronomy/astrophysics and planetary missions. The last two selections (BepiColombo and JUICE) were both planetary, so astronomy/astrophysics concepts might be favored for these two selections.

As for the planetary missions, my heart says an Ice Giant mission, but actuarial tables suggest I might be around to enjoy the results from a Venus mission. A 2034 launch to an Ice Giant would arrive in the mid 2040s if I remember correctly.

Posted by: tedstryk Aug 30 2013, 01:54 AM

Depending on which launch, I'd be in my 50s/60s when a Uranus/Neptune mission arrived. I'll admit I'm hoping for it simply because I see that revisiting these worlds during my lifetime is slipping. However, the right Venus mission would also be appealing.

Posted by: nprev Aug 30 2013, 06:44 AM

...you think that it's slipping for you?

Yeah. Please. Uranus or Neptune, or ideally both!

Posted by: Phil Stooke Aug 30 2013, 09:05 PM

That's right, Ted! Spare a thought for us poor old guys who are already in our 50s and 60s... of course, the flip side of that is having seen people walk on the Moon on live TV. I guess you can't have everything.

Phil

Posted by: tedstryk Sep 3 2013, 10:50 PM

True, but for my "history" with space, Voyager at Neptune is a watershed. When, as a kid, I first took interest in space at the beginning of 1989, the major NASA mission that was active was Voyager approaching Neptune (along with Phobos-2 approaching and then at Mars, but we've seen lots of Mars before and since - Voyager at Neptune was the blockbuster). In many ways Voyager at Neptune, where I watched the pictures come down live until my parents made me go to bed (telling me I'd thank them someday - nope) is my Apollo 11.

Posted by: infocat13 Oct 19 2013, 12:51 AM

I think that the ESA is doing their own decadel survey if perhaps informally, since we have JUICE expect an astronomy or cosmology mission to be picked next

Posted by: Paolo Nov 6 2013, 06:40 PM

not unexpectedly: http://www.nature.com/news/x-rays-top-space-agenda-1.14097

Posted by: vjkane Nov 7 2013, 01:59 AM

Because ESA has such a deep bench of previously selected planetary missions, Europe will remain a strong player for the next two decades: the Rosetta mission rendezvousing with a comet (2014), ExoMars orbiter (2016), ExoMars rover (2018), the Bepi-Colombo Mercury orbiter (arrives 2022), and the JUICE Jupiter and Ganymede orbiter (arrives 2030). This is in addition to the currently operating Venus and Mars Express orbiters.

In addition, the Marco Polo-R asteroid sample return mission is in competition for the next Medium class mission slot.

Posted by: dtolman Dec 3 2013, 10:02 PM

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1312/02cosmicvision/
L2 is Athena+, an X Ray observatory launching in 2028 (pg 569, The Hot and Energetic Universe, in the proposal)
L3 is eLISA, a gravity probe launching in 2034 (pg 255 - The Gravitational Universe, in the proposal doc)

Not personally excited... was hoping for something more exo-planet or a Venus, Uranus, or Neptune mission. Oh well... guess theirs always L4 in... 2040

EDIT - LOL - didn't notice the announcement last month on the bottom of page 1. Saw the new post on spaceflightnow and thought it was new news

Posted by: remcook Dec 4 2013, 08:27 AM

It was only officially approved recently. The outcome was known earlier.

Posted by: Paolo Dec 4 2013, 12:25 PM

you can find the report of the L2-L3 selection committee http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/doc.cfm?fobjectid=53260
interesting details of why each mission was turned down.