arXiv subjects

Lynnae Quick

Publications and source records attributed to Lynnae Quick.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Uranus Flagship: Investigating New Paradigms for Outer Solar System Exploration Workshop Summary Report

This white paper is a summary of the Uranus Flagship Workshop that took place 21 to 23 May 2024 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Co-led by Goddard and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab conveners, we had a broad, international, Science Organizing Committee, and a largely early career Local Organizing Committee from APL and GSFC. From prior workshops, it was apparent that the community was wildly enthusiastic about starting a mission, but lacked focus on what was possible or where to begin. Thus, the purpose of our workshop was to discuss practical aspects of the next planetary flagship and how we can employ new paradigms to better enable robust outer planet exploration. To enable this goal, we introduced the community to the best practices and lessons learned from previous missions and NASA-commissioned studies, and discussed the challenges involved with a mission so far from the Earth/Sun. The underlying workshop purpose was to steward the community towards a more practical mission design approach that will enable the development of this mission, as well as future missions, on a shorter cadence by setting expectations and having difficult discussions early in development. Because of the time scales involved in this mission, special effort was made towards early career inclusion and participation.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Assessing Ocean World Habitability with HWO

The instrument payload of the future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will span a wide range of wavelengths, including the ultraviolet (UV) region that cannot be easily accessed from the ground (< 350 nm). Along with its primary mission to characterize the habitability of candidate exo-Earths, HWO will be well suited for observations of potentially habitable icy ocean worlds in our Solar System, in particular with an integral field spectrograph (IFS). Here, we discuss future HWO observations of ocean worlds including Ceres, Europa, Enceladus, Ariel, and Triton. We explore the observational requirements for capturing ongoing and sporadic geyser activity and for measuring the spectral signatures of astrobiologically-relevant compounds, including water, salts, organics, and other bioessential components. We consider the key observing requirements for an IFS, including wavelength coverage, resolving power (R), angular resolution, and field-of-view (FOV). We also outline some of the potential measurements that would define incremental, substantial, and breakthrough progression for characterizing habitability at ocean worlds, primarily focusing on UV and visible (VIS) wavelengths (90 - 700 nm). Our investigation concludes that a UV/VIS IFS on HWO could make some groundbreaking discoveries, in particular for detection and long-term monitoring of geyser activity and interior-surface exchange of components critical for understanding habitability at ocean worlds.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Exploration Strategy for the Outer Planets 2023-2032: Goals and Priorities

The outer solar system has a diverse range of objects, holding important clues about the formation and evolution of our solar system, the emergence and current distribution of life, and the physical processes controlling both our own and exoplanetary systems. This White Paper summarizes the Outer Planets Analysis Group's (OPAG's) priorities in the Decadal Survey. Taking into account the science to be achieved, the timing of solar system events, technological readiness, and programmatic factors, our mission recommendations are as follows. OPAG strongly endorses the completion and launch of the Europa Clipper mission, maintaining the science capabilities identified upon its selection, and a Juno extended mission at Jupiter. For the decade 2023-2032, OPAG endorses a new start for two directed missions: first, a mission to Neptune or Uranus with atmospheric probe(s), and second, a life detection Ocean World mission, along with additional technological development for life detection. A Neptune mission is preferred because, while the Neptune and Uranus systems provide equally compelling opportunities, Triton is a higher priority ocean world target than the Uranian satellites. The mission to Neptune or Uranus should fly first because a delay threatens key science objectives, and additional technological development is required for a directed life detection mission. Along with missions, we emphasize the necessity of maintaining a healthy Research and Analysis (R&A) program as well as a robust Earth-based observing program. OPAG's top two technology priorities are rapid development of a next-generation radioisotope power source for a mission to Neptune or Uranus, and development of key life detection technologies in support of an Ocean World mission. Finally, fostering an interdisciplinary, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible community is of top importance to the OPAG community.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

Solar System Ice Giants: Exoplanets in our Backyard

Future remote sensing of exoplanets will be enhanced by a thorough investigation of our solar system Ice Giants (Neptune-size planets). What can the configuration of the magnetic field tell us (remotely) about the interior, and what implications does that field have for the structure of the magnetosphere; energy input into the atmosphere, and surface geophysics (for example surface weathering of satellites that might harbour sub-surface oceans). How can monitoring of auroral emission help inform future remote observations of emission from exoplanets? Our Solar System provides the only laboratory in which we can perform in-situ experiments to understand exoplanet formation, dynamos, systems and magnetospheres.

astro-ph.EP↗