Surface Experiments of a Jupiter Trojan Asteroid in the Solar Power Sail Mission

Kurzfassung

Jupiter Trojans are among the key target bodies for the understanding of solar system evolution processes due to their heliocentric distance outside of the water ice snowline, their stable orbits at the Sun-Jupiter Lagrange points, and their taxonomy mainly classified as D- or P-types. A Jupiter Trojan asteroid rendezvous and landing mission is under study in Japan using the Solar Power Sail, and the science experiments on the asteroid surface have been designed in the joint study between Japan and European members. Science instruments such as a mass spectrometer with a sampling system have been developed to determine the molecular and isotopic composition of volatiles included in the surface and subsurface samples. Other instruments to characterize the landing site are also being developed for the mission. Science instruments on the lander and the mothership of the Solar Power Sail are briefly introduced.