Oceanus – A Multi-Spacecraft Multi-Planet Mission Concept

An experimental graduate design course, “Conceptual Space Mission Design” was offered at Purdue University in May–June 2016 as a two weeks’ intensive team exercise, where students performed a rapid conceptual planetary science mission design. Students participated in a series of “intensive” concurrent design sessions in an “active learning” environment, where the mission design and instrument suite were finalized. Students thereby learnt the interconnectedness of mission elements, performed the necessary tradeoffs to stay within the cost cap. The students developed all the necessary tools to conduct the mission concept study.

In August 2015 at the NASA Outer Planets Assessment Meeting, Dr. James Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division in the NASA’s Science Mission Directorate announced the plan to conduct NASA’s Ice Giants Mission Studies. JPL is currently leading the Ice Giant Mission Studies work. In support of the NASA’s plan, the students were inspired to conduct an early mission concept study to explore the ice giant planets within the cost cap of NASA’s Flagship missions.

In May 2015, a unique Saturn-Uranus trajectory option was discovered at Purdue University, led by Kyles Hughes, Sarag Saikia, James Longuski working with NASA Ames Research Center, which enables exceptional multi-spacecraft-multi-probe mission opportunities. The students in the course used the exclusive trajectory to develop the mission concept. Such a mission opportunity enables delivery of an atmospheric probe into Saturn’s atmosphere for the first time and, at the same time, deliver an orbiter and an entry probe to Uranus. The result of the study is “OCEANUS: A Multi-Spacecraft Flagship Mission Concept to Explore Uranus and Saturn.”

The mission concept study was presented to a panel of scientists and engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA Centers, and Industry. The feedback provided by the panel were very helpful in the preparation of the final report. We thank our colleagues at JPL: Charles Budney, James Cutts, Kim Reh, Young Lee, John Elliott, Anastassios Petropoulos, Nitin Arora, and Jon Sims for valuable insight and support during the study. Finally, we will be glad if the Oceanus mission concept study provides some insight in the design of mission concepts to explore the ice giant planets.

The final report from the study is linked here.