NASA Plans $3 Billion Mission to Unlock Pluto's Ocean Secrets by 2060

August 25, 2025
NASA Plans $3 Billion Mission to Unlock Pluto's Ocean Secrets by 2060
  • NASA's upcoming Persephone mission aims to revisit Pluto to investigate the presence of a subsurface ocean, which is crucial for understanding its geological activity and potential habitability.

  • The mission's extended duration will involve multiple generations of scientists, requiring careful knowledge transfer and training to ensure continuity across decades.

  • Launch opportunities are available between 2029 and 2032, but future missions face constraints due to planetary alignments and the need for advanced radioactive power sources.

  • A return journey to Pluto would take approximately 27.5 years, powered by advanced RTGs, and would require significant technological and financial investments, estimated at around $3 billion.

  • The spacecraft will carry 11 instruments designed to analyze surface composition, atmospheric properties, and internal structure through gravity and topography measurements.

  • The mission is planned to operate for just over three years at Pluto, with potential extensions to explore other Kuiper Belt objects, offering insights into the solar system's formation.

  • Persephone will also study Pluto's smaller moons—Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx—to understand their surface features, origins, and any debris from their formation.

  • Despite the challenges and costs, the Persephone mission could greatly enhance our understanding of Pluto's geophysical state and evolution, marking a flagship-level exploration effort.

  • Key objectives include detecting signs of a warm interior, mapping the surface in various wavelengths, studying surface features like methane ice spikes and ice mountains, and analyzing Pluto's atmosphere through mass spectrometry.

Summary based on 1 source


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