View source for Astronomy:Chinese Jupiter probe

{{short description|Planned Chinese Jupiter orbiter mission}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = ''Gan De'' (tentative)
| image                 = 
| image_caption         =

| mission_type          = Jupiter orbiter
| operator              = [[Organization:China National Space Administration|CNSA]]
| website               = 
| mission_duration      = 

| spacecraft_bus        = 
| manufacturer          = CAST 
| launch_mass           = 
| BOL_mass              = 
| dry_mass              = 
| payload_mass          = 
| power                 = 
| instruments           =

| launch_date           = 2029 (proposed)
| launch_rocket         = 
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| landing_date          =

|interplanetary         = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   |type                = orbiter
   |object              = [[Astronomy:Jupiter|Jupiter]]
   |component           = 
   |arrival_date        = 2035 (proposed)
   |departure_date      = 
   |sample_mass         = 
 }}
}}

'''''Gan De''''' is the tentative name for a proposed interplanetary mission by China to study the [[Astronomy:Jupiter|Jupiter]] system and its environs.<ref name="AJ_planetary_12-01-2021" />

== Overview ==
The goals of the proposed ''Gan De'' Jupiter mission were detailed in an article published in a Chinese academic journal, they include the following: study of the interaction between magnetic fields and plasma present in the Jovian system, examination of the compositional variations in the Jovian atmosphere, exploration of the internal structures and surface characteristics of either [[Astronomy:Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede]] or [[Astronomy:Callisto (moon)|Callisto]], as well as investigation of the space environment surrounding the aforementioned [[Astronomy:Galilean moons|Galilean satellites]].<ref name="ChineseJupiterPlans">{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Lin |last2=Zou |first2=Yongliao |last3=Jia |first3=Yingzhuo |url=http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/inostr-yazyki/Chinese_Journal_of_Space_Science/2018/5/Xu_et_al_China's_Planning_---_before_2030_Chin_J_Space_Sci_38_(2018).pdf |title= China's planning for deep space exploration and lunar exploration before 2030 |journal=Chinese Journal of Space Science |date=2018 |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=591–592 |doi=10.11728/cjss2018.05.591}}</ref>

According to reports in the Western media, there are two competing mission profiles as of January 2021: the 'Jupiter Callisto Orbiter' (JCO) and the 'Jupiter System Observer' (JSO).<ref name="AJ_planetary_12-01-2021">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |url=https://www.planetary.org/articles/jupiter-mission-callisto-landing |title=Jupiter Mission by China could include Callisto Landing |website=Planetary.org |date=12 January 2021 |access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref> 'JCO' would involve a spacecraft conducting fly-bys of Jupiter's [[Astronomy:Irregular moon|irregular satellites]] before it enters into a polar orbit about [[Astronomy:Callisto (moon)|Callisto]]; this mission profile also may include a Callisto lander. In contrast, the 'JSO' mission profile, while broadly similar to that of 'JCO', would forgo an attempt by a spacecraft to orbit Callisto and instead would focus on more intensive studies of the Galilean moon [[Astronomy:Io (moon)|Io]] (the 'JSO' mission profile also does not appear to include a lander though it may involve sending the spacecraft to the Sun-Jupiter L1 point at the conclusion of its tour of the Jovian system). Finally, presentations by Chinese researchers suggest that the ''Gan De'' Jupiter mission may include an additional probe that would conduct a fly-by of [[Astronomy:Uranus|Uranus]] sometime after 2040.<ref name="AJ-20170714">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |url=https://findchina.info/mars-asteroids-ganymede-and-uranus-chinas-deep-space-exploration-plan-2030-and-beyond |title=Mars, asteroids, Ganymede and Uranus: China's deep space exploration plan to 2030 and beyond |website=FindChinaInfo |date=14 July 2017 |access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref>

The tentative name of this mission references the fourth century BCE Chinese astronomer '[[Biography:Gan De|Gan De]]' who made early planetary observations and reputedly first observed the [[Astronomy:Galilean moons|Galilean moons]] with the unaided eye.<ref name="AJ_planetary_12-01-2021" />

== Background ==
On October 15, 2003, CNSA launched China's [[Astronomy:Shenzhou 5|first independent crewed orbital mission]]; subsequently it prosecuted successful robotic lunar orbital missions ([[Astronomy:Chang'e 1|Chang'e 1]] and [[Astronomy:Chang'e 2|Chang'e 2]]) and a robotic lunar lander/rover mission ([[Astronomy:Chang'e 3|Chang'e 3]]). In the hope of building upon these achievements, CNSA began to contemplate more ambitious interplanetary missions in the 2020's and beyond. In 2018, Pei Zhaoyu, the deputy director of CNSA's Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center stated that China was planning to conduct four major interplanetary missions before the end of the 2020's;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/25/c_137136188.htm|title=China outlines roadmap for deep space exploration – Xinhua {{!}} English.news.cn|website=www.xinhuanet.com|access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref> the four missions include a mission to [[Astronomy:Mars|Mars]] ([[Astronomy:Tianwen-1|Tianwen-1]]), a [[Astronomy:Main-belt comet|main-belt comet]] and asteroid sample-return mission ([[Engineering:ZhengHe (spacecraft)|ZhengHe]]), a Mars sample-return mission, and a Jupiter system mission. As of early 2021, the aforementioned 'JCO' and 'JSO' mission profiles are competing to be realized as the ''Gan De'' Jupiter system mission.<ref name="AJ_planetary_12-01-2021" />

== Instruments ==
Currently there is scant publicly-available information in the western media regarding potential instruments for this mission, though it is likely that these would include a magnetometer, charged and neutral particle detectors, and spectrometers at various wavelengths. In addition, both the JCO and JSO mission profiles include CubeSats that would carry particles and fields detectors.<ref name="AJ_planetary_12-01-2021" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

{{Jupiter}}
{{Jupiter spacecraft}}
{{Chinese spacecraft}}
{{Chinese space program}}

[[Category:Chinese space probes]]
[[Category:Missions to Jupiter]]
[[Category:Proposed space probes]]

{{Sourceattribution|Chinese Jupiter probe|1}}