Synopsis
Here is a summary of the key points from the NASA Roadmap to Ocean Worlds paper:
- The overarching goal is to identify ocean worlds, characterize their oceans, evaluate habitability, search for life, and understand any life discovered.
- The roadmap prioritizes exploring the full spectrum of ocean worlds, including confirmed (Europa, Enceladus, Titan) and candidate (Triton) ocean worlds.
- Europa, Enceladus, and Titan are the highest priority targets to address roadmap goals in the near-term. Triton is the highest priority candidate ocean world.
- Significant research and analysis on Earth is needed to enable thoughtful planning of future ocean world missions.
- Better collaboration is needed between Earth ocean scientists and extraterrestrial ocean scientists.
- Energy sources like tidal heating and radiogenic heating can help identify ocean worlds. Direct observations from spacecraft can confirm oceans.
- Characterizing ocean composition, ice shell properties, ocean interfaces, and habitability are key objectives.
- Understanding biosignatures, sample return, and search strategies are important to search for life.
- The roadmap provides a framework to systematically explore ocean worlds over the coming decades by prioritizing science objectives and investigations.