Cosmic Vision 2015-2025: The Solar System

30 Jan 2006
Theme 2 - How does the Solar System work?
The search for the origins of life set out in the first of the four themes for Cosmic Vision
2015-2025 must begin in our own Solar System. Understanding how the Sun behaves
over a range of timescales, how the planets can be shielded from its radiative and plasma
output, why the nine Solar System planets are so different from one another, and what
the small bodies such as comets and asteroids can tell us about our origins - these are
only a few aspects of the question.
The generic circumstances under which planets are habitable are unknown, but must depend on the
radiative output and magnetic activity of the neighbouring star, on the behaviour of the space
environment surrounding the planets, on the material from which the planets originally accreted,
and so on.

The Sun dominates the Solar System. Its radiation provides the means
to sustain life, but its continuous and occasionally violent activity
provides the means to destroy it. Both are critically important areas to
be studied. Only in the Solar System can we establish the zero-order
truths concerning the Sun, its all-important magnetic field and the
interaction of the solar wind with the planetary environments, which
can then be extended to planetary systems elsewhere in the Universe.
Goal
Study the plasma and magnetic field environment of the Sun, the
Earth, the Jovian system (as a Solar System in miniature), and out to
the heliopause where the solar wind meets the interstellar medium
Concepts
1.
2.
3.

The Solar System, pervaded by the solar plasma and magnetic

field, provides a range of laboratories to study the interactions
of planets with the solar wind
Understanding the origin of the Sun's magnetic field requires
observations of the field at the visible surface around the poles
In situ observation of the heliopause would provide 'ground
truth' measurements of the interstellar medium

Mission Scenarios
1.
2.
3.

Earth magnetospheric swarm

Jupiter exploration programme
Solar polar orbiter

4.

Interstellar heliopause probe

In addition to the Sun and the interplanetary medium, the Solar

System comprises the planets, their satellites, small bodies such as
comets and asteroids, and dust. How this possibly unique environment
arose and how it has evolved are scientific questions of the highest

importance. Answering it involves the detailed study of all of these

objects. In respect of the major planets and their moons, ESA has
already taken major initiatives with the Huygens probe to Titan, the
SMART-1 mission to the Moon, Mars Express, Venus Express and the
BepiColombo mission being prepared for Mercury. To continue its
prominent role, ESA needs to choose carefully further aspects of
planetary science to pursue in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025
timeframe. The main goal should now be an in-depth exploration of
one of the giant planets in the outer Solar System, of which Jupiter is
the most accessible.
Goal
Study Jupiter in situ, its atmosphere and internal structure
Study Europan surface in situ
Concepts
1.

Giant planets with their rings, diverse satellites and complex

environments constitute systems that play a key role in the
evolution of planetary systems

Mission Scenarios
1.
2.

Jupiter exploration programme

Jupiter probes

3.

Europa lander

As the primitive, leftover building blocks of planet formation, small

bodies of the Solar System offer clues to the chemical mixture from
which the planets formed. They hold unique information on the initial
conditions and early history of the solar nebula, and their study is
essential to understanding the processes by which interstellar material
becomes new planetary systems with the possibility of bearing life.
Goal
Obtain direct laboratory information by analysing samples from a nearEarth asteroid
Concepts
1.

As building blocks in the Solar System, the most primitive

small bodies give clues to the chemical mixture and initial
conditions from which the planets formed in the early solar
nebula

Mission Scenarios
1.

Near-Earth object sample return