There has been a lot of research on Saturn’s moon Enceladus because of the plumes of water vapour emanating from this icy moon’s south pole. However, not much is known about the characteristics of the rest of the moon. This Thesis uses infrared spectral data gathered by Cassini’s VIMS instrument to search for traces of materials other than water ice and to characterize the crystal size and crystallinity of the water ice itself. The search for the non-water ice species was done by looking for features of the most likely candidates within the water ice spectra, while crystallinity and crystal size where evaluated based on several features of the water ice itself. This study has found traces of CO, CO2 and NH3, as well as an area of unusually high crystal size which might be indicative of a recent resurfacing event or previously unknown hot-spot.

This report details the design of a mission aimed to find and analyse active Venusian volcanoes, if they exist. These volcanoes are interesting because active volcanism would significantly contribute to the understanding of the Venusian atmosphere, its extreme climate and geological processes. This knowledge would in turn help us understand Earth better. The design is based on the concept selected previously in the Midterm report and consists of five vehicles: a spacecraft, an aeroshell, an aircraft and two landers. The spacecraft with aeroshell will be launched into a Hohmann transfer orbit to Venus in 2023. Upon arrival, the satellite will map the surface, and find the most promising region for volcanic activity. It will then deploy the aeroshell containing the aircraft and landers. The satellite then changes its orbit to one that allows for it to act as a relay between the Venusian vehicles and Earth. After entry and having slowed down sufficiently to deploy a parachute, the first lander will be dropped. This lander will act as a reference for the lander inside the aircraft. Next, the aircraft is deployed after which it will start following flight tracks that allow for it to stay in the Sunlight. These tracks are designed by taking into consideration the power systems, thermal system and propulsion system, and then optimising such that the electronics do not overheat and that the battery size is reasonable. While flying, the aircraft will take measurements to locate volcanoes. Once a very promising location is found, the aircraft will deploy the second lander from an altitude of about 32 km. This lander will then descend further down and land on the surface where it will perform measurements. Combining the measurements of all vehicles it is expected that the mission can also complete a number of secondary objectives to further improve the knowledge of Venus...