Studies

KISS studies convene experts from Caltech, JPL, and the wider space community to develop ideas and concepts that can revolutionize space science and engineering.

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  • Blazing Paths to Observing Stellar and Exoplanet Particle Environments
    Astrophysics

    Blazing Paths to Observing Stellar and Exoplanet Particle Environments

    Now that astronomers are routinely probing the composition and evolution of exoplanet atmospheres, the fields of astrophysics, heliophysics, and exoplanetary science must devote greater attention to the particle environments of planets, i.e., space weather. Particles, although…

  • Crucial Carbon Stores and Fluxes in Desert Environments
    Earth

    Crucial Carbon Stores and Fluxes in Desert Environments

    Understanding carbon stores and fluxes in desert environments is crucial to reach conservation, regeneration, and carbon goals locally and globally. In desert landscapes, carbon is primarily stored as inorganic carbon in the so-called caliche layer and…

  • Pulsar-based navigation and time keeping for space exploration
    Astrophysics

    Pulsar-based navigation and time keeping for space exploration

    As the United States and its international partners prepare to expand human and robotic exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond, the need for precise, autonomous timekeeping and navigation has become critical. Current approaches rely on…

  • Bridging Exoplanet and Solar System Science

    Bridging Exoplanet and Solar System Science

    In recent decades, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, some like planets within our solar system, others unlike anything in our solar system. The sample thus far exhibits significant diversity and represents an opportunity to advance…

  • Too distant, too uncertain, too unforgiving: assuring autonomous space explorers we’ve yet to trust 
    Engineering

    Too distant, too uncertain, too unforgiving: assuring autonomous space explorers we’ve yet to trust 

    Future space exploration missions will increasingly depend on autonomy not as a convenience, but as an operational necessity. Missions to distant worlds such as Europa, subsurface explorers operating beneath ice shells, swarms of aerial or terrestrial…

  • A New Era of Space Science: Actionable and Affordable Mission Plans
    Engineering

    A New Era of Space Science: Actionable and Affordable Mission Plans

    This study brings together experts from across science, engineering, and the emerging commercial space sector to tackle a central challenge: how to make ambitious Moon and Mars science missions dramatically more affordable and achievable in the…

  • Caltech Space Challenge

    Caltech Space Challenge

    For centuries, humanity has looked to the skies with curiosity and wonder, seeking to understand whether we are alone in the universe. While that question remains unanswered, our solar system offers tantalizing clues—oceans beneath icy crusts,…

  • Next Frontiers in the Investigation of Extraterrestrial Organics
    Planetary

    Next Frontiers in the Investigation of Extraterrestrial Organics

    The study of the organic inventory of planetary materials occurs at an intersection of many fields including chemistry, biology, geology, and planetary science. In recent years, simple and complex organic materials have been identified and occur…

  • One-Shot Outer Solar System Exploration with Adaptive Space Systems

    One-Shot Outer Solar System Exploration with Adaptive Space Systems

    The surface and subsurface of any worlds beyond Mars still remain unexplored or underexplored. Yet it is these worlds that hold the key to some of the greatest questions in planetary science – for example, the…