ARIEL

Last updated

ARIEL
NamesAtmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey
Mission type Space telescope
Operator ESA
Website arielmission.space , sci.esa.int/web/ariel/
Mission duration4 years (planned) [1]
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass1,300 kg (2,900 lb) [2]
Dry mass1,000 kg (2,200 lb)
Payload mass300 kg (660 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date2029 (planned) [3]
Rocket Ariane 62
Launch site Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, ELA-4
Contractor Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system Sun–Earth L2 orbit [4]
Main Cassegrain reflector
Diameter1.1 m × 0.7 m (3 ft 7 in × 2 ft 4 in)
Focal lengthf/13.4
Collecting area0.64 m2
Wavelengths visible and near-infrared
Instruments
Telescope assembly (TA)
Ariel infrared spectrometer (AIRS)
Fine Guidance System (FGS)
ESA Ariel official mission patch.png
ARIEL mission insignia
←  PLATO
EnVision  →
 

The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) is a space telescope and the fourth medium-class mission of the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision programme. The mission is aimed at observing at least 1000 known exoplanets using the transit method, studying and characterising the planets' chemical composition and thermal structures. Compared to the James Webb Space Telescope, ARIEL will be a much smaller telescope and have more observing time available for planet characterisation. ARIEL is expected to be launched in 2029 aboard an Arianespace Ariane 6 together with the Comet Interceptor.

Contents

Mission

ARIEL will observe 1000 planets orbiting distant stars and make the first large-scale survey of the chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres. [5] The objective is to answer fundamental questions about how planetary systems form and evolve. [6] A spectrometer will spread the light into a spectrum ("rainbow") and determine the chemical fingerprints of gases in the planets' atmospheres. [6] This will enable scientists to understand how the chemistry of a planet links to the environment in which it forms, and how its formation and evolution are affected by its parent star. [6] ARIEL will study a diverse population of exoplanets in a wide variety of environments, but it will focus on warm and hot planets in orbits close to their star. [6]

The ARIEL mission is being developed by a consortium of various institutions from eleven member states of the European Space Agency (ESA), [lower-alpha 1] and international contributors from four countries. [lower-alpha 2] The project is led by principal investigator Giovanna Tinetti of the University College London, [8] [9] who had previously led the unsuccessful Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EcHO) proposal for the M3 Cosmic Vision launch slot. [10] [11] Operations of the mission and the spacecraft will be handled jointly by ESA and the consortium behind the mission's development, through a coordinated Instrument Operations and Science Data Centre (IOSDC). [7] A Mission Operations Centre (MOC) will be set up at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, while a concurrent ARIEL Science Operations Centre (SOC) will be set up at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) near Madrid, Spain. [7] The MOC will be responsible for the spacecraft itself, while the SOC will be responsible for archiving mission data and scientific data downlinked from the spacecraft. The IOSDC will help develop results from the mission based on data received by the SOC. [7]

In August 2017, NASA conditionally selected Contribution to ARIEL Spectroscopy of Exoplanets (CASE) as a Partner Mission of Opportunity, pending the result of ESA's Cosmic Vision selection. [12] Under the proposal NASA provides two fine guidance sensors for the ARIEL spacecraft in return for the participation of U.S. scientists in the mission. [13] CASE was officially selected in November 2019, with JPL astrophysicist Mark Swain as principal investigator. [14]

On December 7, 2021, ESA announced that the €200 million contract to build ARIEL had been awarded to Airbus Defence and Space. [15]

On December 6, 2023, ESA approved the construction of ARIEL with a targeted launch date of 2029. [16]

Spacecraft

The design of the ARIEL spacecraft is based on that intended for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) mission, and has heritage from the thermal design of Planck . [7] [17] The body of the spacecraft is split into two distinct modules known as the Service Module (SVM) and the Payload Module (PLM). The SVM is shaped as a 'sandwich' structure, consisting of three aluminium V-Grooves and three pairs of low conductivity fibreglass bipod struts supporting the PLM. [17] A basic horizontal telescope configuration is used for the PLM itself, housing all of the spacecraft's scientific instruments and its oval 1.1 m × 0.7 m (3 ft 7 in × 2 ft 4 in) primary mirror. [17] [18] At launch, the spacecraft will have a fuelled mass of 1,300 kg (2,900 lb), and will have a dry mass of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). [18] The PLM will account for around 300 kg (660 lb) of that mass. [18]

Telescope

The ARIEL telescope's assembly is an off-axis Cassegrain telescope followed by a third parabolic mirror to recollimate the beam. The telescope uses an oval 1.1 m × 0.7 m (3 ft 7 in × 2 ft 4 in) primary mirror; the imaging quality of the system is limited by diffraction for wavelengths longer than about 3 µm, and its focal ratio (f) is 13.4. [19] The system will acquire images in the visible and near-infrared spectrum. [19] To operate its infrared spectroscope between 1.95 µm and 7.8 µm, the telescope will be passively cooled to a temperature of 55 K (−218.2 °C; −360.7 °F). [7] [19]

Launch and trajectory

The ARIEL spacecraft is expected to be launched in 2029 by Arianespace's Ariane 62 launch vehicle (currently in development [20] [21] ) together with the Comet Interceptor. [15] [3] [22] [23] It will be launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, [22] [23] from the "Ensemble de lancement Ariane" ELA-4 (Ariane Launch Area-4) being purpose-built for future Ariane 6 launches. [24] ARIEL will be launched to the L2 Lagrange point, in a position located at a distance of 1,500,000 km (930,000 mi) from Earth, [22] where it will encounter a very stable thermal environment that is required to detect exoplanets. [23]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ These are the University of Vienna from Austria, the Universities of Leuven and Liège from Belgium, the Technical University of Denmark, the CEA, CNES, Paris Institute of Astrophysics, Marseille, Côte d'Azur, and Paris Observatories in France, the Max Planck Society and University of Hamburg in Germany, SRON and the Universities of Amsterdam, Delft, and Leiden in the Netherlands, the Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences, the CAB, Institute of Space Sciences and the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands in Spain, University of Bern in Switzerland, and the ATC and the Universities of Cardiff, Exeter, Hertfordshire, Keele, Leicester, London, and Oxford in the United Kingdom. [7]
  2. ↑ These are the Université de Montréal and the University of Toronto in Canada, the ELSI, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Osaka University in Japan, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Caltech, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Lunar and Planetary Institute, and Universities of Arizona State, Chicago, and Princeton in the United States. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Webb Space Telescope</span> NASA/ESA/CSA space telescope launched in 2021

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. Its high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This enables investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.

<i>Venus Express</i> 2005 mission to explore Venus by the European Space Agency

Venus Express (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven scientific instruments, the main objective of the mission was the long term observation of the Venusian atmosphere. The observation over such long periods of time had never been done in previous missions to Venus, and was key to a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics. ESA concluded the mission in December 2014.

Darwin was a suggested ESA Cornerstone mission which would have involved a constellation of four to nine spacecraft designed to directly detect Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars and search for evidence of life on these planets. The most recent design envisaged three free-flying space telescopes, each three to four metres in diameter, flying in formation as an astronomical interferometer. These telescopes were to redirect light from distant stars and planets to a fourth spacecraft, which would have contained the beam combiner, spectrometers, and cameras for the interferometer array, and which would have also acted as a communications hub. There was also an earlier design, called the "Robin Laurance configuration," which included six 1.5 metre telescopes, a beam combiner spacecraft, and a separate power and communications spacecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herschel Space Observatory</span> ESA space telescope in service 2009–2013

The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021. Herschel carries a 3.5-metre (11.5 ft) mirror and instruments sensitive to the far infrared and submillimetre wavebands (55–672 µm). Herschel was the fourth and final cornerstone mission in the Horizon 2000 programme, following SOHO/Cluster II, XMM-Newton and Rosetta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPICA (spacecraft)</span> Proposed far-infrared space observatory

The Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), was a proposed infrared space telescope, follow-on to the successful Akari space observatory. It was a collaboration between European and Japanese scientists, which was selected in May 2018 by the European Space Agency (ESA) as a finalist for the next Medium class Mission 5 (M5) of the Cosmic Vision programme, to launch in 2032. At the time the other two finalists were THESEUS and EnVision, with the latter that was eventually selected for further development. SPICA would have improved on the spectral line sensitivity of previous missions, the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes, between 30 and 230 µm by a factor of 50—100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PLATO (spacecraft)</span> European space telescope to detect exoplanets

PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is a space telescope under development by the European Space Agency for launch in 2026. The mission goals are to search for planetary transits across up to one million stars, and to discover and characterize rocky extrasolar planets around yellow dwarf stars, subgiant stars, and red dwarf stars. The emphasis of the mission is on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around Sun-like stars where water can exist in a liquid state. It is the third medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and is named after the influential Greek philosopher Plato. A secondary objective of the mission is to study stellar oscillations or seismic activity in stars to measure stellar masses and evolution and enable the precise characterization of the planet host star, including its age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope</span> NASA infrared space telescope

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA infrared space telescope in development and scheduled to launch by May 2027.

The Nano-Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for Infrared Exploration (Nano-JASMINE) is an astrometric microsatellite developed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, with contributions by the University of Tokyo's Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL). As of 2015, the satellite was planned for launch together with CHEOPS in 2019. However, this launch took place in December 2019 without Nano-JASMINE as one of the three piggyback payloads. Some sources named 2022 as the launch year of the satellite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer</span>

Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE) was a NASA mission proposal for a space observatory operating in the Near-infrared spectrum for the Medium-Class Explorers program. The Principal Investigator was Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHEOPS</span> Optical space telescope (launched in 2019)

CHEOPS is a European space telescope. Its objective is to determine the size of known extrasolar planets, which will allow the estimation of their mass, density, composition and their formation. Launched on 18 December 2019, it is the first Small-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision science programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor</span> Proposed NASA space telescope

The Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor, commonly known as LUVOIR, is a multi-wavelength space telescope concept being developed by NASA under the leadership of a Science and Technology Definition Team. It is one of four large astrophysics space mission concepts studied in preparation for the National Academy of Sciences 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanna Tinetti</span> Italian astrophysicist

Giovanna Tinetti is an Italian physicist based in London. She is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at University College London, who researches galactic planetary science, exoplanets and atmospheric science.

Contribution to ARIEL Spectroscopy of Exoplanets (CASE) is a detector subsystem contribution to an infrared spectrometer instrument for the planned European ARIEL space telescope. It is being developed by NASA as a contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) project to add scientific capabilities to the space telescope to observe the chemical composition of the atmospheres of exoplanets, as well exoplanetary metallicities. The ARIEL spacecraft with CASE on board is planned to launch in 2029.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Space Agency Science Programme</span> Science programme by the European Space Agency, focused on astronomy, astrophysics, and exploration

The Science Programme of the European Space Agency is a long-term programme of space science and space exploration missions. Managed by the agency's Directorate of Science, The programme funds the development, launch, and operation of missions led by European space agencies and institutions through generational campaigns. Horizon 2000, the programme's first campaign, facilitated the development of eight missions between 1985 and 1995 including four "cornerstone missions" – SOHO and Cluster II, XMM-Newton, Rosetta, and Herschel. Horizon 2000 Plus, the programme's second campaign, facilitated the development of Gaia, LISA Pathfinder, and BepiColombo between 1995 and 2005. The programme's current campaign since 2005, Cosmic Vision, has so far funded the development of ten missions including three flagship missions, JUICE, Athena, and LISA. The programme's upcoming fourth campaign, Voyage 2050, is currently being drafted. Collaboration with agencies and institutions outside of Europe occasionally occur in the Science Programme, including a collaboration with NASA on Cassini–Huygens and the CNSA on SMILE.

The Comet Interceptor is a robotic spacecraft mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) planned for launch in 2029. The spacecraft will be "parked" at the Sun-Earth L2 point and wait for up to three years for a long-period comet to fly by at a reachable trajectory and speed.

Cosmic Vision is the third campaign of space science and space exploration missions in the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Formulated in 2005 as Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025, the campaign succeeded the Horizon 2000 Plus campaign and envisioned a number of missions in the fields of astronomy and solar system exploration beyond 2015. Ten missions across four funding categories are planned to be launched under Cosmic Vision, with the first being CHEOPS in December 2019. A mission to the Galilean moons (JUICE), the first deep space mission with an opportunistic target, and one of the first gravitational-wave space observatories (LISA), are planned for launch as part of the Cosmic Vision campaign.

References

  1. ↑ "ARIEL Summary". ESA. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "ARIEL Spacecraft". ESA. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Ariel moves from blueprint to reality". ESA. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "Ariel Space Mission – European Space Agency M4 Mission" . Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "A Candidate for the ESA M4 Mission". Ariel Space Mission. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "ARIEL exoplanet mission selected as ESA's next medium-class science mission" (PDF). Ariel Space Mission. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "(ESA/SCI(2017)2) ARIEL – Atmospheric Remote‐sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large‐survey -- Enabling Planetary Science across Light‐years" (PDF). ARIEL Science Mission. March 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Amos, Jonathan (20 March 2018). "Discovering the nature of planets". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Gibney, Elizabeth (20 March 2018). "First space mission dedicated to exoplanet atmospheres gets green light". Nature. 555 (7698): 571. Bibcode:2018Natur.555..571G. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-03445-5 .
  10. ↑ Gewin, Virginia (14 April 2011). "Turning point: Giovanna Tinetti". Nature. 472 (7342): 251. doi: 10.1038/nj7342-251a . ISSN   1476-4687.
  11. ↑ European Space Agency (21 February 2014). "ESA selects planet-hunting PLATO mission". Astronomy (magazine). Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "NASA Selects Proposals to Study Galaxies, Stars, Planets". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. Retrieved 28 April 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  13. ↑ "FINESSE and ARIEL + CASE: Dedicated Transit Spectroscopy Missions for the Post-TESS Era" (PDF). Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG). NASA. Retrieved 28 April 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  14. ↑ Landau, Elizabeth (8 November 2019). "NASA Instrument to Probe Planet Clouds on European Mission". NASA. Retrieved 12 November 2019.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  15. 1 2 "ESA award €200m contract to Airbus to build Ariel observatory". European Spaceflight. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "ESA's Ariel Mission is Approved to Begin Construction". 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 "ARIEL: Spacecraft". European Space Agency. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 "Facts & Figures". ARIEL Space Mission. May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  19. 1 2 3 ARIEL - Payload ESA, 20 March 2018
  20. ↑ Amos, Jonathan (22 June 2017). "Full thrust on Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  21. ↑ Pultarova, Tereza (25 October 2017). "ArianeGroup CFO Pierre Godart on Ariane 6 cost savings, micro launchers and reusability". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  22. 1 2 3 "ESA's next science mission to focus on nature of exoplanets". ESA Science & Technology Portal. European Space Agency. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  23. 1 2 3 Warren, Melissa (20 March 2018). "UK part of ARIEL exoplanet project selected as ESA's next medium-class science mission". Science and Technology Facilities Council. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  24. ↑ "Race to build Ariane 6 rocket launch pad". Euronews. 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.