KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES

       

Cryogenic Comet (and Centaur) Sample Return:
Compelling New Science vs. Technological Challenges – Part II

October 31 – November 3, 2017
California Institute of Technology - Pasadena, CA 91125

Workshop Overview:

During the first workshop we considered:

  1. The possibility that Centaurs might be less processed than short-period cometary nuclei and so might make preferable targets in the search for primordial matter. 
  2. The trade-offs between drilling technology and physical constraints imposed by the thermal properties and thermo-dynamical history of the target body
  3. Constraints imposed by the physics of sample return, especially the problem of sample damage caused by high g-loading upon re-entry.  
  4. How discussions on protoplanetary disks opened up the question of whether lateral and vertical mixing could have fully sublimed and re-condensed ice grains leading to cometesimals or whether primordial state is maintained during this epoch.

At the end of the first workshop the understanding was that we should explore not one but two Cryogenic Sample Return Mission (CSRM) scenarios, one to a comet and the other to a Centaur.

Goals for the second workshop are:

  1. Determine the effect of surface hardness, constrained especially by new interpretations of the Rosetta data, on sampling and drilling technology. Identify case scenarios and engineering models to address the extremes.
  2. Determine whether re-entry acceleration and/or vibration poses an insurmountable threat to some or all of the science objectives and whether or not in-situ or in-orbit analyses are therefore required.
  3. Develop plausible scenarios for (A) comet CSRM and (B) Centaur CSRM, including initial assessment of possible flight paths using existing and planned rocket technology.
  4. Evaluate and come up with recommendations regarding primitive/non-primitive status of ice grains and organics in protoplanetary disk that would become cometesimals and KBOs/Oort Cloud bodies in an evolved Solar System like ours.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME
8:30 - 9:00 Registration, Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center
9:00 - 9:30 Workshop Logistics Michele Judd
9:30 - 9:45 Participant Lightning Introductions All
9:45 - 10:15 Summary of Outcomes from the first workshop Team Leads
10:15 - 10:30 Desired Outcomes of the second workshop Team Leads
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:30 Report outs from Assignments All
12:30 - 2:00 Group Picture and Lunch at the Athenaeum
2:00 - 3:30 Set-up Stage for two mission scenarios:
1. Cryogenic Comet Sample Return
2. Cryogenic Centaur Sample Return
Groups
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 5:30 Continue work on two mission scenarios Groups
5:30 - 6:00 Pack up and walk to the Athenaeum All
6:00 Dinner at the Athenaeum

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME
8:30 - 9:00 Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center
9:00 - 9:15 Logistics, Recap of Day 1 and presentation of Day 2 marching orders Michele Judd and Team Leads
9:15 - 10:30 Breakout groups on Cryogenic COMET Sample Return Mission – Narrow the tradespace
(a) Depth of Sampling,
(b) Temperature of Returned Sample,
(c) Quantity of the Ice Sample,
(d) Engineering Scenarios for each of the above three,
(e) Spacecraft Requirements (RTG vs. Solar Powered)
(f) Re-entry g-loading/transients and sampling
All
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:30 Report of working groups to the workshop community and feedback on nascent ideas Groups
11:30 - 12:30 Breakout groups continue All
12:30 - 2:00  Lunch at the Athenaeum
2:00 - 3:30 Report of working groups to the workshop community Groups
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 5:00 Breakout groups continue All
5:00 - 5:45 Report of working groups to the workshop community Groups
5:45 - 6:00 Pack up and drive to dinner in Pasadena All
6:00 OPTIONAL No-host dinner in Pasadena (KISS pays for grad students and postdocs)

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME
8:30 - 9:00

Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center

9:00 - 9:15

Logistics, Recap of Day 2 and presentation of Day 3 marching orders

Michele Judd and
Team Leads

9:15 - 10:30 Breakout groups on Cryogenic CENTAUR Sample Return Mission – Narrow the tradespace
(a) Depth of Sampling,
(b) Temperature of Returned Sample,
(c) Quantity of the Ice Sample,
(d) Engineering Scenarios for each of the above three,
(e) Spacecraft Requirements (RTG vs. Solar Powered)
(f) Re-entry g-loading/transients and sampling
All
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:30 Report of working groups to the workshop community Groups
11:30 - 12:30 Breakout groups continue All
12:30 - 2:00  Lunch on your own
2:00 - 2:30 FREE THINK TIME (individual, or self organizing small groups) All
2:30 - 3:30 Report of working groups to the workshop community Groups
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 5:00 Breakout groups continue All
5:00 - 5:45 Report of working groups to the workshop community Groups
5:45 - 6:00 Pack up and walk to the Athenaeum All
6:00 Dinner at the Athenaeum (with spouses and significant others)

Friday, November 3, 2017

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME
8:30 - 9:00

Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center

9:00 - 9:15

Logistics, Recap of Day 3 and presentation of Day 4 marching orders

Michele Judd and
Team Leads

9:15 - 10:30 Summarize findings All
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:30 Summarize unresolved issues All
12:30 - 1:30 Informal lunch in the Institute
1:30 - 3:30 Draft White Papers for both the Cryogenic Sample Return Missions All
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 4:45 Discussion of possible illustrations
Advocacy Plan
All
4:45 - 5:00 Workshop Closeout Michele Judd
5:00 Workshop Concludes

Workshop Participants:

  • Katharina Altwegg - University of Bern
  • Guillaume Avice – Caltech
  • Paul Backes – JPL
  • Geoff Blake – Caltech
  • Mathieu Choukroun – JPL
  • Ilse Cleeves – Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
  • Björn Davidsson – JPL
  • Kostas Giapis - Caltech
  • Murthy Gudipati – JPL
  • Aurélie Guilbert-Lepoutre – CNRS-UTINAM
  • Philip Heinisch - TU Braunschweig
  • Bryana Henderson – JPL
  • Lynne Hillenbrand – Caltech
  • Sona Hosseini - JPL
  • Man-To Hui – UCLA
  • David Jewitt – UCLA
  • Scott Moreland – JPL
  • David Nesvorny – Southwest Research Institute
  • Aaron Parness – JPL
  • Anastassios Petropolous - JPL
  • Rhonda Stroud – Naval Research Laboratory
  • Neal Turner – JPL
  • Darren Wade – Lockheed Martin
  • Quan-Zhi Ye – Caltech
  • Ed Young - UCLA
  • Kris Zacny – Honeybee Robotics

Workshop Presentations

Philip Heinisch
TU Braunschweig
Surface Mechanical Properties Based on Philae’s Touchdowns
(169 MB .pdf)