SLS Block 2+ Persephone Pluto probe

Persephone is a NASA concept mission study that addresses key questions raised by New Horizons’ encounters

with Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), with arguably the most important being, “Does Pluto have a subsurface ocean?”

More broadly, Persephone would answer four significant science questions: (1) What are the internal structures of

Pluto and Charon? (2) How have the surfaces and atmospheres in the Pluto system evolved? (3) How has the KBO

population evolved? (4) What are the particles and magnetic field environments of the Kuiper Belt? To answer

these questions, Persephone has a comprehensive payload, and it would both orbit within the Pluto system and

encounter other KBOs. The nominal mission is 30.7 yr long, with launch in 2031 on a Space Launch System Block

2 rocket with a Centaur kick stage, followed by a 27.6 yr cruise powered by existing radioisotope electric

propulsion and a Jupiter gravity assist to reach Pluto in 2058. En route to Pluto, Persephone would have one

50–100 km class KBO encounter before starting a 3.1-Earth-year orbital campaign of the Pluto system. The

mission also includes the potential for an 8 yr extended mission, which would enable the exploration of another

KBO in the 100–150 km size class. The mission payload includes 11 instruments: Panchromatic and Color HighResolution Imager, Low-Light Camera, Ultra-Violet Spectrometer, Near-Infrared (IR) Spectrometer, Thermal IR

Camera, Radio Frequency Spectrometer, Mass Spectrometer, Altimeter, Sounding Radar, Magnetometer, and

Plasma Spectrometer. The nominal cost of this mission is $3.0 billion, making it a large strategic science mission.