The CALICO+ Mission – Exploring Ocean World Ceres

Kurzfassung

Dwarf planet Ceres is the closest ocean world to Earth. It appears to be rich in water ice and organic material, and its surface shows clear signs of recent, possibly ongoing, geological activity. The presence of such a "wet" body in the asteroid belt is a major surprise. The origin of Ceres is unclear; it might even be a former Kuiper Belt object. A region on Ceres of particular interest is Occator crater with its bright evaporite deposits which signal very recent, if not ongoing, cryovolcanic activity. Our proposed mission CALICO+ (Carbon, Ammonia & Life-Investigations by Ceres Orbiter + lander) will explore Ceres and unravel the secrets of this ocean world. It will investigate Ceres’ internal state, origin and evolution and will aim to answer the fundamental question of whether this enigmatic ocean world ever offered the conditions for life.