# Kronos (spacecraft)

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This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Please help improve this article by citing more sources. Find sources: "Kronos" spacecraft – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2021)

For other uses, see [Kronos](/source/Kronos_(disambiguation)).

***Kronos*** is a concept mission to [Saturn](/source/Saturn). It is aimed at detailed study of the chemical composition of Saturn's atmosphere, gravity and magnetic fields. The proposal consists of the solar powered carrier spacecraft, two atmospheric probes and (possibly) two small probes for the close-up imaging of the [Saturnian rings](/source/Rings_of_Saturn).

## History

*Kronos* was proposed in 2009 as a collaboration between [NASA](/source/NASA) and [ESA](/source/ESA).[1]

After the launch and several [flybys](/source/Flyby_(spaceflight)) of Venus, Earth and Jupiter, *Kronos* would arrive at Saturn. The cruise time depends on chosen trajectory and is from 6 to 17 years. In the vicinity of Saturn two atmospheric probes are to be released, entering the atmosphere of Saturn and obtaining information on [chemical composition](/source/Chemical_composition) (including [isotopic](/source/Isotope) ratios), temperature, wind speeds and cloud structure to pressures down to 10 [bars](/source/Bar_(unit)).

Two rings probes, if implemented, would also be released in order to provide images of ring particles from a very close distance (a few kilometers). The carrier spacecraft is proposed to fly by Saturn at a close distance obtaining precision information on the gravitational and magnetic fields of Saturn as well as on the atmospheric circulation and deep composition of the atmosphere.[1]

The carrier spacecraft design closely follows that of Jupiter orbiter [*Juno*](/source/Juno_(mission)) including solar panels. The proposed design of the descent probes would be similar to that of *[Galileo](/source/Galileo_(spacecraft))*'s [atmospheric entry probe](/source/Galileo_(spacecraft)#Galileo_entry_probe). The mission would be generally based on existing technology.[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Marty2009_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Marty2009_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Marty2009_1-2) Marty, B.; Guillot, T.; Coustenis, A.; et al. (2009). ["*Kronos*: exploring the depths of Saturn with probes and remote sensing through an international mission"](https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10686-008-9094-9). *Experimental Astronomy*. **23** (3): 947–976. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2009ExA....23..977M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009ExA....23..977M). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/s10686-008-9094-9](https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10686-008-9094-9).

v t e Spacecraft missions to Saturn Past Flybys Pioneer 11 Voyager 1 Voyager 2 Orbiters Cassini–Huygens timeline retirement Landers Huygens (on Titan) Planned Dragonfly (to Titan, 2028) Proposed Saturn, rings Kronos Saturn Atmospheric Entry Probe SPRITE Titan Saturn System Mission Enceladus Enceladus Orbilander L4 Breakthrough Enceladus mission Enceladus Life Finder Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability Enceladus Explorer Life Investigation For Enceladus Titan AVIATR Oceanus TALISE Titan Mare Explorer Titan Submarine Several moons Explorer of Enceladus and Titan Journey to Enceladus and Titan There are no ongoing missions to Saturn

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kronos (spacecraft)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronos_(spacecraft)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronos_(spacecraft)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.