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NASA backs plans to sample Saturn ring particles
Times of India··25 Jul
NASA selected two Innovative Advanced Concepts proposals to explore direct sampling of Saturn's rings after Cassini ended in 2017 without directly sampling ring particles. PRAXIS led by JPL's Marco Quadrelli would use an AI guided boom for touch and go collection from ice particles. Northwestern proposes ten thousand femtosatellites for mapping. Both concepts remain early stage.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Future Saturn missions could reveal whether rings are shattered moon debris or leftover planet formation material.
- Distributed femtosat swarms spread mission risk across thousands of low cost probes instead of one flagship orbiter.
- Both concepts remain early stage but NASA NIAC funding signals serious interest in returning to Saturn after Cassini.
What's Happening
- NASA NIAC selected PRAXIS and a femtosatellite swarm concept for Saturn ring exploration studies.
- PRAXIS would extend a flexible boom to briefly touch moving ring particles and retract with samples.
- Cassini photographed rings closely but never directly sampled ice particles ranging from dust to house sized chunks.
NIAC Funds Ring Touch Concepts
- Ring particles are largely water ice mixed with rock, colliding and merging in Saturn's dense equatorial plane.
- Michael Rubenstein's swarm design accepts probe destruction because remaining units continue collecting data.
- Onboard instruments would measure porosity and composition to test theories about ring age and origin.
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