WindBots: A Concept for Persistent in Situ Science Explorers for Gas Giants

Visible to the naked eye, the gas giants JupiterJupiter and SaturnSaturn have been known to astronomers since antiquity. In the modern times much was learned about them, and yet so much remains to be learned. They are made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, they have no hard surface to land to; their low temperature atmospheres are characterized by strong windsWinds, at least in the observed upper atmosphere. What we know about them comes from remote sensing—yet their clouds impede deeper observation through remote sensing. We also have, in a singular case, data transmitted by a robotic probeRobotic probe that descended through the Jovian atmosphere. We need more of these probes, to confirm the models we formed about these planets, and to discover new phenomena below their clouds. This chapter examines mission concept alternatives in which robotic craft operate in the atmospheres of gas giants, for long duration, and using energyEnergy derived from local sources. In a preferred scenario these Wind RobotsWind Robots (WBs), with high mobility and autonomy compared to passive balloons, would operate in the Jovian atmosphere above and below the region of clouds, between 0.3 and 10 bar, for a year-long duration mission, in strong (potentially turbulent) winds. In an example, notional mission, a WB would operate in the eyewall of the Great Red Spot, using the high wind and updrafts of the anticycloneCyclone, as well as horizontal gusts. Both naturally buoyant and winged solutions, as well as hybrids of the two, are determined possible. A Network of WBs could measure wind speeds, temperatures, and atmospheric composition simultaneously, at multiple locations.