Scientific performance analysis for a novel science mission to characterise Enceladus' interior
M. Contarini (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
D. Dirkx – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
M. Rovira Navarro – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
J.G. De Teixeira da Encarnacao – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
L.L.A. Vermeersen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
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Abstract
The ESA Voyage 2050 program has identified Saturn's moon Enceladus as a primary target for
future outer Solar System missions aimed at assessing its potential habitability and internal
structure. To investigate Enceladus' interior, a novel mission concept is proposed, comprising an
orbiter tracked by surface landers. This study quantifies the attainable accuracy in the estimation of
key geophysical parameters by analyzing a range of mission architectures and design
configurations. From the derived uncertainties in selected parameters — including the tidal Love
numbers and libration amplitude — the analysis demonstrates how these observables can constrain
Enceladus' interior, assuming a three-layer structural model. The findings indicate that the proposed
mission architecture enables stringent estimates for Enceladus' geophysical parameters, thereby
yielding refined constraints of its internal properties, including the ice shell thickness, the densities of the core and subsurface ocean, the core radius, and the ice shell shear modulus.