Joint NASA/ESA report on the TandEM/TSSM mission now available
20 January 2009
A joint report describing the main results and current baseline of the TSSM mission has been issued by ESA and NASA. |
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Artist's impression of the TSSM concept. Credit: ESA/NASA |
The Titan and Enceladus Mission (TandEM), an ambitious scientific mission to study the Saturnian system with particular emphasis on the moons Titan and Enceladus, was selected in October 2007 as a candidate mission within the ESA Cosmic Vision plan. An internal assessment study of TandEM was initiated and completed by ESA in 2008.
In 2007 NASA performed a series of studies for flagship missions, including among others, missions to the Saturnian moons Titan (the Titan Explorer Flagship Mission) and Enceladus (the Enceladus Flagship Mission).
From the early stages of the ESA study process it was agreed with NASA that a joint mission to the Saturnian system should be studied. Joint Science Definition Teams (JSDTs) were formed with U.S. and European membership to guide study activities that were conducted collaboratively by engineering teams working on both sides of the Atlantic. This joint mission represents a merger of the mission proposals that were originally proposed, separately, to the two space agencies. The combined mission is currently referred to as the Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM).
The main results and the current baseline of the TSSM mission study are summarized in a joint report, describing all mission elements. This joint report is now publicly available and can be downloaded from this web site (see link on right-hand menu).