Mercury Lander: Planetary Mission Concept Study for the 2023-2032 Decadal Survey

TL;DR

The Mercury Lander mission concept aims to perform in situ surface measurements to address key scientific questions about Mercury's composition, core, magnetic fields, surface processes, and exosphere, building on MESSENGER's findings.

Contribution

This study presents a feasible, high-heritage landed mission concept with an 11-instrument payload for comprehensive Mercury surface science within a New-Frontiers-class framework.

Findings

Achieves one Mercury year of surface operations.

Provides detailed geochemical and geophysical data.

Supports future Mercury exploration missions.

Abstract

As an end-member of terrestrial planet formation, Mercury holds unique clues about the original distribution of elements in the earliest stages of solar system development and how planets and exoplanets form and evolve in close proximity to their host stars. This Mercury Lander mission concept enables in situ surface measurements that address several fundamental science questions raised by MESSENGER's pioneering exploration of Mercury. Such measurements are needed to understand Mercury's unique mineralogy and geochemistry; to characterize the proportionally massive core's structure; to measure the planet's active and ancient magnetic fields at the surface; to investigate the processes that alter the surface and produce the exosphere; and to provide ground truth for current and future remote datasets. NASA's Planetary Mission Concept Studies program awarded this study to evaluate the feasibility of accomplishing transformative science through a New-Frontiers-class, landed mission to Mercury in the next decade. The resulting mission concept achieves one full Mercury year (~88 Earth days) of surface operations with an ambitious, high-heritage, landed science payload, corresponding well with the New Frontiers mission framework. The 11-instrument science payload is delivered to a landing site within Mercury's widely distributed low-reflectance material, and addresses science goals and objectives encompassing geochemistry, geophysics, the Mercury space environment, and surface geology. This mission concept is meant to be representative of any scientific landed mission to Mercury; alternate payload implementations and landing locations would be viable and compelling for a future landed Mercury mission.