Architectures and Instruments for Enceladus Exploration

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn with a subsurface ocean and potential hydrothermal activity, is a crucial target for habitability and life detection mission concepts. While the Cassini mission provided important information about Enceladus, there are many unanswered and consequential questions remain including its habitability, geochemical history, and whether or not Enceladus currently hosts life. Furthermore, in order to plan future missions, Enceladus-relevant questions need to be reframed in terms of measurements performable by spacecraft missions and instrument requirements. We have developed a science traceability matrix (STM) detailing a directed set of science objectives for Enceladus relating to its geology and habitability based on the NIAC mission concept Enceladus Vent Explorer (EVE). This STM was designed to be broad and cover a significant science trade space for mission development; a companion paper discusses the scientific detail of the STM (Rodriguez et al., 2024). In this paper, we discuss which mission architectural features would be needed to meet different science goals and observables of the STM. Based on the STM, we identify direct access to ocean samples as an important architectural feature to fulfill measurements of habitability, variation within ocean levels, and life detection. We additionally propose the use of integrated instrument suites to address life detection science objectives. We highlight opportunities for advancement in research and technology development that could enable different science objectives, including autonomy and instrument design. We determined that for this STM and set of instruments, access to ocean samples is a high priority. This publication can be used as a framework for mission concept design and as a roadmap for development of new technology and instrument maturation for future investigations to maximize science return at Enceladus.