In-situ Resource Utilization with Icy Moons’ Plumes

Icy moons such as Enceladus and Europa may have subsurface oceans that could harbor life. Power generation and necessary surface mobility are key challenges to future scientific and exploratory missions.The Cassini mission observed plumes ejected from the crustal cracks on these icy moons’ surfaces. This paper explored the feasibility of using the plume’s kinetic energy to propel lightweight aerial vehicles. We designed a robotic surface mission concept of using multiple cooperative tethered rovers to deploy aerial vehicles with a force-amplification nozzle over the plume ejection area. We estimated the trade-off between the weight of the aerial vehicles versus flying ranges with the available plume energy.We studied in detail the force amplification as well as the aerobot mobility range in different shapes of nozzles.