Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) is a joint NASA/ESA proposal for an exploration of Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus, where many complex phenomena have been revealed by the recent CassiniHuygens mission.
With an estimated NASA cost of $2.5 Billion (FY07), TSSM was originally proposed to launch in 2020, get gravity assists from Earth and Venus, and arrive at the Saturn system in 2029. The 4-year prime mission would include a two-year Saturn tour, a 2-month Titan aero-sampling phase, and a 20-month Titan orbit phase.
The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) was officially created in January 2009 by the merging of the ESA's Titan and Enceladus Mission (TandEM) with NASA's Titan Explorer 2007 study, although plans to combine both concepts date at least back to early 2008
TSSM was competing against the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) proposal for funding since then, however in February 2009 it was announced that NASA/ESA had given EJSM priority ahead of TSSM, although TSSM will continue to be studied for a later launch date, probably sometime in the 2020s. Detailed assessment reports of the mission elements as well as a specific concept for the lake landing-module called Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) have been released in February and October 2009, respectively.
No comments:
Post a Comment