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TANDEM : TITAN and ENCELADUS MISSIONAthena Coustenis (LESIA, Paris-Meudon Observatory, France athena.coustenis@obspm.fr) & The TANDEM Consortium (more details) (155 International members from 11 European countries, the US, Canada, China, Japan and Taiwan) Titan and Enceladus are unique objects in our Solar System. Chance has them orbiting together around Saturn and conveniently within reach of human exploration thanks to the recent Cassini-Huygens mission, which has effectively revealed them. The two satellites are the only ones so far to exhibit atmospheres among the Kronian satellites and their surfaces have astonished the planetary community. Therefore, considering the complementary nature of the geological, chemical and evolutionary history of Titan and Enceladus, we propose to carry out studies for a mission to perform an in situ exploration of these two objects in tandem. TANDEM is a large International collaborative effort, with 155 members from more than a dozen countries. This ambitious mission will address several of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 call themes with orbiters, balloons, landers/penetrators and a state-of-the-art multitask payload to be delivered to the satellites around 2030. TANDEM is a proposal selected by ESA in October 2007 in the framework of the 2015-2025 Cosmic Vision Plan for studies as an L-class mission to explore in situ Titan and Enceladus. TANDEM is a highly ambitious mission because its targets are two of the most exciting and challenging bodies in the Saturnian system, indeed in the whole solar system. It must build on but exceed the scientific and technological accomplishments of the Cassini-Huygens mission, exploring Titan and Enceladus in ways that are not currently possible (full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time). Why Titan and Enceladus ? Why a new mission to Titan and Enceladus after Cassini-Huygens? TANDEM science goals Mission scenario and architecture The baseline mission concept Mission payload Tandem architecture Operations, cost, collaboration Outreach |
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