So far no designated mission to either of the two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, exists. Almost all of our gathered information on these planets comes from remote sensing. In recent years, NASA and ESA have started planning for future mission to Uranus and Neptune, with both agencies focusing their attention on orbiters and atmospheric probes. Whereas information provided by remote sensing is undoubtedly highly valuable, remote sensing of planetary atmospheres also presents some shortcomings, most of which can be overcome by mass spectrometers. In most studies presented to date a mass spectrometer experiment is thus a favored science instrument for in situ composition measurements on an atmospheric probe. Mass spectrometric measurements can provide unique scientific data, i.e., sensitive and quantitative measurements of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, including isotopic, elemental, and molecular abundances. In this review paper we present the technical aspects of mass spectrometry relevant to atmospheric probes. This includes the individual components that make up mass spectrometers and possible implementation choices for each of these components. We then give an overview of mass spectrometers that were sent to space with the intent of probing planetary atmospheres, and discuss three instruments, the heritage of which is especially relevant to Uranus and Neptune probes, in detail. The main part of this paper presents the current state-of-art in mass spectrometry intended for atmospheric probe. Finally, we present a possible descent probe implementation in detail, including measurement phases and associated expected accuracies for selected species.

中文翻译：

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探索天王星和海王星的大气探测器的化学和同位素组成测量

到目前为止，还没有对天王星和海王星这两个冰巨星中的任何一个进行指定的任务。我们在这些行星上收集的几乎所有信息都来自遥感。近年来，NASA 和 ESA 开始规划未来的天王星和海王星任务，两个机构都将注意力集中在轨道飞行器和大气探测器上。遥感提供的信息无疑具有很高的价值，但行星大气遥感也存在一些缺点，其中大部分可以通过质谱仪来克服。因此，在迄今为止提出的大多数研究中，质谱仪实验是在大气探测器上进行原位成分测量的首选科学仪器。质谱测量可以提供独特的科学数据，即 大气化学成分的灵敏和定量测量，包括同位素、元素和分子丰度。在这篇评论论文中，我们介绍了与大气探针相关的质谱技术方面。这包括构成质谱仪的各个组件以及每个组件的可能实施选择。然后，我们概述了发射到太空以探测行星大气层的质谱仪，并详细讨论了三种仪器，其遗产与天王星和海王星探测器特别相关。本文的主要部分介绍了当前用于大气探测的质谱技术。最后，我们详细介绍了一种可能的下降探测实现，