Trident (spacecraft)

Trident is a space mission concept to the outer planets proposed in 2019 to NASA's Discovery program. The concept includes flybys of Jupiter and Neptune with a focus on Neptune's largest moon Triton.

In 2020, Trident was selected along with three other Discovery proposals for further study, with one or two expected to be selected to fly.

History

Triton is the largest moon of Neptune. In 1989, Voyager 2 flew past the moon at a distance of , and discovered several cryovolcanoes on its surface. Triton is geologically active, its surface is young and has relatively few impact craters. It has a very thin atmosphere.

The Trident concept was proposed in March 2019 to NASA's Discovery Program. The mission concept is supported by NASA's Ocean Worlds Exploration Program and it is intended to help answer some of the questions generated by Voyager 2's flyby in 1989.

Overview

Trident takes advantage of a rare, efficient gravity assist alignment of the outer planets, to capitalize on a narrow observational window that enables assessment of changes in Triton's plume activity and surface characteristics since the previous encounter of Neptune-Triton by Voyager 2 in 1989. 

With the advances of high-resolution imaging and a unique orbital configuration of Triton in 2038, Trident would be able to obtain a near-complete map of the Neptune's moon during its sole flyby. Trident would pass through Triton's thin atmosphere, within  of the surface, sampling its ionosphere with a plasma spectrometer and perform magnetic induction measurements to assess the potential existence of an internal ocean.  The Principal Investigator is Louise Prockter, director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.

Payload

Objects that Trident would visit

See also
Argo, a 2009 Triton flyby mission concept
New Horizons probe, performed a Pluto flyby in 2015
New Horizons 2, a mission proposed in 2002 which might have included a Triton flyby
Triton Hopper, a lander concept to Triton

References 

Category:Discovery program proposals
Category:Proposed NASA space probes
Category:Missions to Neptune
Category:Triton (moon)