STELLA – A proposal for Europe’s contribution to a possible Interstellar Probe
Résumé
Stella is a proposed European contribution to NASA’s Interstellar Probe (ISP), a large-strategic mission candidate. ESA’s call for M-class mission proposals was the best and only currently available option for the European science community to contribute to the astronomically constrained ISP launch window in 2036 – 2037. Traveling with a speed of ~ 7.0 au/year ISP would reach 350 au during its nominal 50-year life-time. The proposed Stella contribution to ISP includes two core and two optional elements for the full complement:
• Core: Provision of European scientific instruments;
• Core: Provision of the European ISP communication system including the spacecraft’s 5-m high gain antenna;
• Full complement: ESA deep space communication facility: an extension of ESA’s DSA with a new antenna array;
• Full complement: Contribution to ISP operations to increase drastically the ISP and European payloads science return.