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Shi X, Castillo-Rogez J, Hsieh H, Hui H, Ip WH, Lei H, Li JY, Tosi F, Zhou L, Agarwal J, Barucci A, Beck P, Bagatin AC, Capaccioni F, Coates AJ, Cremonese G, Duffard R, Grande M, Jaumann R, Jones GH, Kallio E, Lin Y, Mousis O, Nathues A, Oberst J, Sierks H, Ulamec S, Wang M. GAUSS - genesis of asteroids and evolution of the solar system: A sample return mission to Ceres. EXPERIMENTAL ASTRONOMY 2021; 54:713-744. [PMID: 36915624 PMCID: PMC9998589 DOI: 10.1007/s10686-021-09800-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The goal of Project GAUSS (Genesis of Asteroids and evolUtion of the Solar System) is to return samples from the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres is the most accessible candidate of ocean worlds and the largest reservoir of water in the inner Solar System. It shows active volcanism and hydrothermal activities in recent history. Recent evidence for the existence of a subsurface ocean on Ceres and the complex geochemistry suggest past habitability and even the potential for ongoing habitability. GAUSS will return samples from Ceres with the aim of answering the following top-level scientific questions: What is the origin of Ceres and what does this imply for the origin of water and other volatiles in the inner Solar System?What are the physical properties and internal structure of Ceres? What do they tell us about the evolutionary and aqueous alteration history of dwarf planets?What are the astrobiological implications of Ceres? Is it still habitable today?What are the mineralogical connections between Ceres and our current collections of carbonaceous meteorites?
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Affiliation(s)
- Xian Shi
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
- Present Address: Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Shanghai, China
| | | | | | - Hejiu Hui
- School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wing-Huen Ip
- Institute of Astronomy and Space Science, National Central University, Chung Li, Taiwan
| | - Hanlun Lei
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | | | - Federico Tosi
- Istituto Nazionale di AstroFisica – Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (INAF-IAPS), Rome, Italy
| | - Liyong Zhou
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jessica Agarwal
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
- Institute for Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics, Technical University Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Antonella Barucci
- LESIA-Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université, F-92195 Meudon, Principal Cedex, France
| | - Pierre Beck
- CNRS Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Adriano Campo Bagatin
- Universidad de Alicante, Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Alicante, Spain
| | - Fabrizio Capaccioni
- Istituto Nazionale di AstroFisica – Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (INAF-IAPS), Rome, Italy
| | - Andrew J. Coates
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Surrey, UK
| | | | - Rene Duffard
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Granada, Spain
| | | | - Ralf Jaumann
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Geraint H. Jones
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Surrey, UK
| | - Esa Kallio
- School of Electrical Engineering, Aalto University, Aalto, Finland
| | - Yangting Lin
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | | | - Andreas Nathues
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jürgen Oberst
- DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Holger Sierks
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Stephan Ulamec
- DLR Space Operations and Astronaut Training, Cologne, Germany
| | - Mingyuan Wang
- National Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
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Abstract
Ceres is the largest object in the main belt and it is also the most water-rich body in the inner solar system besides the Earth. The discoveries made by the Dawn Mission revealed that the composition of Ceres includes organic material, with a component of carbon globally present and also a high quantity of localized aliphatic organics in specific areas. The inferred mineralogy of Ceres indicates the long-term activity of a large body of liquid water that produced the alteration minerals discovered on its surface, including ammonia-bearing minerals. To explain the presence of ammonium in the phyllosilicates, Ceres must have accreted organic matter, ammonia, water and carbon present in the protoplanetary formation region. It is conceivable that Ceres may have also processed and transformed its own original organic matter that could have been modified by the pervasive hydrothermal alteration. The coexistence of phyllosilicates, magnetite, carbonates, salts, organics and a high carbon content point to rock–water alteration playing an important role in promoting widespread carbon occurrence.
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