SECRECY · SEarChing REcent CrYomagmatism in Ceres and Europa, astrobiological targets

The motivation of this project is to contribute to the search and characterization for potentially habitable planetary environments. During the two last decades, missions to the outer solar system, such as Galileo to the Jupiter system, Cassini-Huygens to the Saturn system and Dawn to the main protoplanets of the asteroid belt, have discovered several ""ocean worlds"". Jupiters moon Europa, Saturns moons Titan and Enceladus, and the dwarf planet Ceres, show signs that indicate the presence of liquid water in their interiors, potentially interacting with organic compounds and hot rocks. These ""ocean worlds"" are now considered as prime astrobiological targets by the major space agencies ESA and NASA. This project proposes a strategy to identify freshly erupted materials at the surface of these icy bodies and provide informations on their composition and on the subsurface source. Specifically, it is focused on Europa and Ceres, the most accessible targets for in-situ landing missions. For this purpose, we will experimentally study the processes that aqueous solutions of diverse compositions undergo from their emplacement in the interior of the crust at medium-high pressure and relatively low temperature, to their subsequent arrival at the surface at high vacuum and much lower temperature. Infrared and Raman spectroscopies and mass spectrometry instruments will be used to characterize the different processes from the source conditions to the surface emplacement and subsequent alteration. These techniques are within the science payload of past, current and future missions. Therefore, the data obtained in the laboratory will be used as public databases to assist in the interpretation of spectra taken on space missions.""