Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A roadmap for planetary caves science and exploration

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

From Nature Astronomy

View current issue Submit your manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Planetary bodies are positioned within their respective research stage.

NASA / JPL-Caltech (images).

References

  1. Sauro, F. et al. Earth-Sci. Rev. 103288 (2020).

  2. Malaska, M. J. Icarus 344, 113764 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chappaz, L. et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 44, 105–112 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Torrese, P. et al. Icarus 357, 114244 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Parness, A. et al. In Proc. 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 5467–5473 (IEEE, 2017).

  6. Dubowsky, S. et al. AIP Conf. Proc. 746, 1449 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Nesnas, I. A. D. et al. J. Field Robot. 29, 663–685 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kesner, S. B., Plante, J.-S., Boston, P. J., Fabian, T. & Dubowsky, S. In Proc. 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 4893–4898 (IEEE, 2007).

  9. Dille, M. et al. In Proc. 2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172595 (IEEE, 2020).

  10. Agha-Mohammadi, A. et al. J. Field Robot. (in the press).

  11. Cushing, G. E. J. Cave Karst Stud. 74, 33–47 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kearney, M. L., Wynne, J. J., Cushing, G. E., Bardabelias, N. M. & Barlow, N. G. In Proc. 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference LPI Contribution No. 2548 (LPI, 2021).

  13. Titus, T. N., Phillips-Lander, C. M., Boston, P. J., Wynne, J. J. & Kerber, L. Planetary cave exploration progresses. Eos https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO152045 (2020).

  14. Porco, C., DiNino, D. & Nimmo, F. Astron. J. 148, 45 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Wagner, R. V. & Robinson, M. S. In Proc. 52nd Lunar and Planetary Conference abstr. 2530 (LPI, 2021).

  16. Cushing, G. E. Mars Global Cave Candidate Catalog (NASA, PDS, 2016); https://go.nature.com/2SwrqT0

Download references

Acknowledgements

Part of this research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Images of planetary bodies were adapted from three-dimensional models available on NASA’s Solar System Exploration website. Satellite and rover silhouettes were rendered and modified from images of NASA’s Cassini and Perseverance spacecraft, respectively.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Timothy N. Titus, Glen E. Cushing & Kaj E. Williams

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    J. Judson Wynne

  3. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Michael J. Malaska, Ali-akbar Agha-Mohammadi, James W. Ashley, Laura H. Kerber, Erin J. Leonard, Cynthia B. Phillips, Jennifer E. Scully & Kyle Uckert

  4. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Peter B. Buhler, Thomas H. Prettyman & Norbert Schorghofer

  5. Earth & Environmental Sciences Department University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    E. Calvin Alexander

  6. Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, Madrid, Spain

    Armando Azua-Bustos & Alberto G. Fairén

  7. Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Armando Azua-Bustos

  8. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    Penelope J. Boston & Uland Y. Wong

  9. Planetary Exploration Group, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA

    Debra L. Buczkowski

  10. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Leroy Chiao

  11. Center for Mineral Resources Science, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    John DeDecker

  12. Human Spaceflight Laboratory, Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA

    Pablo de León, Gary L. Harris & Kavya Manyapu

  13. School of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Cansu Demirel-Floyd

  14. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Jo De Waele & Francesco Sauro

  15. Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Alberto G. Fairén

  16. Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Amos Frumkin

  17. Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Heather Jones & William L. Whittaker

  18. Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Richard J. Léveillé

  19. Geosciences Department, John Abbott College, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada

    Richard J. Léveillé

  20. Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Matteo Massironi

  21. Laboratório HERCULES, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal

    Ana Z. Miller

  22. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Seville, Spain

    Ana Z. Miller

  23. Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA

    John E. Mylroie

  24. School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Bogdan P. Onac

  25. Emil G. Racoviță Institute, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Bogdan P. Onac

  26. Fluidity Technologies, Inc., Houston, TX, USA

    Scott Parazynski

  27. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Charity M. Phillips-Lander

  28. Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Haley M. Sapers

  29. Astrobiology Research Group, Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Dirk Schulze-Makuch

  30. German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section Geomicrobiology, Potsdam, Germany

    Dirk Schulze-Makuch

  31. Department of Experimental Limnology, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Stechlin, Germany

    Dirk Schulze-Makuch

  32. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Robert V. Wagner

Authors
  1. Timothy N. Titus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Judson Wynne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael J. Malaska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ali-akbar Agha-Mohammadi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Peter B. Buhler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. E. Calvin Alexander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. James W. Ashley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Armando Azua-Bustos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Penelope J. Boston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Debra L. Buczkowski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Leroy Chiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Glen E. Cushing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. John DeDecker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Pablo de León
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Cansu Demirel-Floyd
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Jo De Waele
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Alberto G. Fairén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Amos Frumkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Gary L. Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Heather Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. Laura H. Kerber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  22. Erin J. Leonard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  23. Richard J. Léveillé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  24. Kavya Manyapu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  25. Matteo Massironi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  26. Ana Z. Miller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  27. John E. Mylroie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  28. Bogdan P. Onac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  29. Scott Parazynski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  30. Cynthia B. Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  31. Charity M. Phillips-Lander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  32. Thomas H. Prettyman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  33. Haley M. Sapers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  34. Francesco Sauro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  35. Norbert Schorghofer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  36. Dirk Schulze-Makuch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  37. Jennifer E. Scully
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  38. Kyle Uckert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  39. Robert V. Wagner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  40. William L. Whittaker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  41. Kaj E. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  42. Uland Y. Wong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

T.N.T., J.J.W. and M.J.M. share senior authorship. A.A. and P.J.B. developed the robotics section, while P.B.B. assisted with figure development. All other authors contributed equally.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Timothy N. Titus, J. Judson Wynne or Michael J. Malaska.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Titus, T.N., Wynne, J.J., Malaska, M.J. et al. A roadmap for planetary caves science and exploration. Nat Astron 5, 524–525 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01385-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01385-1

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation