Atmospheres and Aerosols of Other Worlds

JAMES CUTTS, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

     Abstract Number: 629
     Working Group: Plenary Lecture Invited by Conference Chair

Abstract
The identification of atmospheres and aerosols on Mars, Venus and Jupiter was made by astronomers in the pre-spacecraft era. However, while knowledge of the nature of the atmospheric gases was rapidly established, determining the composition of aerosols has proved more elusive. Flyby and orbital spacecraft observed the target from afar with remote sensing techniques. Vehicles that descended into the atmospheres were fewer and most were not equipped to characterize aerosols. Thus, when the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey compiled a comprehensive report on the state of this research field it concluded that “Aerosols (dust, hazes, and clouds) are key features of many planetary atmospheres and affect the atmospheric absorption and scattering of solar radiation. Aerosol transport, microphysics, and radiative processes are often coupled via complex feedbacks, yet few measurements related to such processes exist for atmospheres other than Earth’s”. This presentation will review what is currently known about aerosols on other worlds and what future missions may tell us for worlds in our solar system and beyond. We will stress the importance of new exploration platforms such as rotorcraft and balloon, advances in miniaturized aerosol instrumentation suitable for planetary missions and the importance of earth based experimental facilities such as the Planetary Cloud and Aerosol Research Facility (PCARF) currently under construction at JPL. Finally, we will cover the mysteries of the aerosols that constitute the clouds of Venus, what is known today, what the Rocket Lab Venus probe planned for launch in 2025 may tell us and the role of long duration balloon equipped to conduct aerosol mass spectrometry may tell us about the possibility that the Venus clouds may harbor microbial life in a form that is unknown on Earth.