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Geochemical characterisation of hypersaline waters is difficult as high concentrations of salts hinder the analysis of constituents at low concentrations, such as trace metals, and the collection of samples for trace metal analysis in natural waters can be easily contaminated. This is particularly the case if samples are collected by non-conventional techniques such as those required for aquatic subglacial environments. In this paper we present the first analysis of a subglacial brine from Taylor Valley, (~ 78°S), Antarctica for the trace metals: Ba, Co, Mo, Rb, Sr, V, and U. Samples were collected englacially using an electrothermal melting probe called the IceMole. This probe uses differential heating of a copper head as well as the probe’s sidewalls and an ice screw at the melting head to move through glacier ice. Detailed blanks, meltwater, and subglacial brine samples were collected to evaluate the impact of the IceMole and the borehole pump, the melting and collection process, filtration, and storage on the geochemistry of the samples collected by this device. Comparisons between melt water profiles through the glacier ice and blank analysis, with published studies on ice geochemistry, suggest the potential for minor contributions of some species Rb, As, Co, Mn, Ni, NH4+, and NO2−+NO3− from the IceMole. The ability to conduct detailed chemical analyses of subglacial fluids collected with melting probes is critical for the future exploration of the hundreds of deep subglacial lakes in Antarctica.
The recently discovered first high velocity hyperbolic objects passing through the Solar System, 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, have raised the question about near term missions to Interstellar Objects. In situ spacecraft exploration of these objects will allow the direct determination of both their structure and their chemical and isotopic composition, enabling an entirely new way of studying small bodies from outside our solar system. In this paper, we map various Interstellar Object classes to mission types, demonstrating that missions to a range of Interstellar Object classes are feasible, using existing or near-term technology. We describe flyby, rendezvous and sample return missions to interstellar objects, showing various ways to explore these bodies characterizing their surface, dynamics, structure and composition. Interstellar objects likely formed very far from the solar system in both time and space; their direct exploration will constrain their formation and history, situating them within the dynamical and chemical evolution of the Galaxy. These mission types also provide the opportunity to explore solar system bodies and perform measurements in the far outer solar system.
In this chapter, the key technologies and the instrumentation required for the subsurface exploration of ocean worlds are discussed. The focus is laid on Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus because they have the highest potential for such missions in the near future. The exploration of their oceans requires landing on the surface, penetrating the thick ice shell with an ice-penetrating probe, and probably diving with an underwater vehicle through dozens of kilometers of water to the ocean floor, to have the chance to find life, if it exists. Technologically, such missions are extremely challenging. The required key technologies include power generation, communications, pressure resistance, radiation hardness, corrosion protection, navigation, miniaturization, autonomy, and sterilization and cleaning. Simpler mission concepts involve impactors and penetrators or – in the case of Enceladus – plume-fly-through missions.
20 years after the successful ground deployment test of a (20 m) 2 solar sail at DLR Cologne, and in the light of the upcoming U.S. NEAscout mission, we provide an overview of the progress made since in our mission and hardware design studies as well as the hardware built in the course of our solar sail technology development. We outline the most likely and most efficient routes to develop solar sails for useful missions in science and applications, based on our developed `now-term' and near-term hardware as well as the many practical and managerial lessons learned from the DLR-ESTEC Gossamer Roadmap. Mission types directly applicable to planetary defense include single and Multiple NEA Rendezvous ((M)NR) for precursor, monitoring and follow-up scenarios as well as sail-propelled head-on retrograde kinetic impactors (RKI) for mitigation. Other mission types such as the Displaced L1 (DL1) space weather advance warning and monitoring or Solar Polar Orbiter (SPO) types demonstrate the capability of near-term solar sails to achieve asteroid rendezvous in any kind of orbit, from Earth-coorbital to extremely inclined and even retrograde orbits. Some of these mission types such as SPO, (M)NR and RKI include separable payloads. For one-way access to the asteroid surface, nanolanders like MASCOT are an ideal match for solar sails in micro-spacecraft format, i.e. in launch configurations compatible with ESPA and ASAP secondary payload platforms. Larger landers similar to the JAXA-DLR study of a Jupiter Trojan asteroid lander for the OKEANOS mission can shuttle from the sail to the asteroids visited and enable multiple NEA sample-return missions. The high impact velocities and re-try capability achieved by the RKI mission type on a final orbit identical to the target asteroid's but retrograde to its motion enables small spacecraft size impactors to carry sufficient kinetic energy for deflection.