4. Constraining Io's dynamics with JUICE astrometry

ESA supervisor: Sam Fayolle
Collaborator(s): Olivier Witasse

Site: ESTEC

In the coming decade, ESA’s JUICE and NASA’s Europa Clipper missions will explore Jupiter’s icy moons, with the primary goal of characterising their potential habitability. An important objective is to improve significantly our determination of the moons’ orbits. This provides essential information on the system’s long-term evolution via a better characterisation of the present orbital configuration, tidal interactions, and tidal heating rate of the moons’ interiors.  While the focus of the two missions is on Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, Io is a very important moon to consider. Io is the closest Galilean moon to Jupiter and, because of the Laplace resonance, is dynamically intrincately coupled with Europa and Ganymede. Io is therefore a key driver of the energy exchange between Jupiter and the other moons, shaping the evolution of the Laplace resonance, and thus the evolution of the entire Jovian system. 

Tight constraints on the orbits of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto will primarily come from high-precision radio-science data acquired by JUICE and Europa Clipper during their flybys (and orbital phase for JUICE). With no flybys planned for Io, a significant observational gap is expected that will affect the accuracy and robustness of the orbital solution for the other Galilean moons. The goal of this internship is to carefully review the possibility to improve Io’s orbital solution with the JUICE mission, with emphasis on astrometric imaging. The work will include a characterisation of measurement accuracy and operation limitations. The trainee will gain first-hand experience with state-of-the-art simulation capabilities for geodesy parameters and orbit estimations, using the Tudat open-source software developed at Delft university (https://docs.tudat.space/en/latest/). The trainee will model a range of astrometric data scenarios and directly evaluate their impact on expected uncertainties for the moons’ orbits. This project offers a unique opportunity to directly contribute to fostering synergies within the JUICE instrument suite and provide concrete recommendations for the future science planning. 
 
The project may lead to co-authorship on a publication after the traineeship. 
 

Project duration: 3-6 months.

Desirable expertise or programming language:

  • Interest in Solar System dynamics and/or planetary science.
  • Background in astrometry, dynamics of natural bodies, and/or orbit determination.
  • Programming experience in Python. The project will also offer the possibility to gain and/or improve C++ skills if the trainee so chooses (but C++ experience is neither necessary nor required).
  • Previous experience with the Tudat software or estimation tools in general is not required, but would be a plus.
  • Good English communication skills (including strong technical writing skills).

To apply for this project please fill in an online application form through the following link.

To see the full list of Internships available at ESA please go to our website for ESA Career Opportunities.