Saturn System Mission under consideration would use a NASA orbiter and an ESA lander and research balloon. The sophisticated mission presents several technical challenges that require significant study and technological development.
The National Academy in Washington is working on establishing a roadmap for new NASA planetary missions to begin after 2013. In Europe, interested scientists must re-submit the Titan mission at the next opportunity for mission proposals in the Cosmic Vision program.
ESA's Directorate of Science and Robotic Exploration will manage the European contribution to the Jupiter mission, while NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, will manage NASA's contributions to the projects for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
Image 1: In February 2009, ESA and NASA selected their future flagship mission to the outer Solar System - a new project to explore Jupiter and its four largest moons. Credits: NASA/ESA
Image 2: Artist's impression of a possible future ESA/NASA mission to Saturn's system. The mission, called Tandem in Europe, is a set of spacecraft to orbit Titan, explore its surface, after exploring the surface of another moon of Saturn, Enceladus. Credits: NASA/ESA
On the Net: