scholarly journals AIDA: Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 480-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Michel ◽  
A. Cheng ◽  
A. Galvez ◽  
C. Reed ◽  
I. Carnelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Space Agency ◽  
The Other ◽  
Applied Physics ◽  
Binary Asteroid ◽  
Jet Propulsion ◽  
Asteroid Impact ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Goddard Space Flight Center ◽  
Asteroid Deflection ◽  
Joint Mission

AbstractAIDA (Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment) is a project of a joint mission demonstration of asteroid deflection and characterisation of the kinetic impact effects. It involves the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (with support from members of NASA centers including Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and the European Space Agency (with support from members of the french CNRS/Cte dAzur Observatory and the german DLR). This assessment will be done using a binary asteroid target. AIDA consists of two independent but mutually supporting mission concepts, one of which is the asteroid kinetic impactor and the other is the characterisation spacecraft. The objective and status of the project will be presented.

scholarly journals BepiColombo Science Investigations During Cruise and Flybys at the Earth, Venus and Mercury

2021 ◽  
Vol 217 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Mangano ◽  
Melinda Dósa ◽  
Markus Fränz ◽  
Anna Milillo ◽  
Joana S. Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
French Guiana ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Spacecraft Mission ◽  
Joint Mission ◽  
Science Investigations ◽  
Orbit Insertion ◽  
Inner Heliosphere

AbstractThe dual spacecraft mission BepiColombo is the first joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to explore the planet Mercury. BepiColombo was launched from Kourou (French Guiana) on October 20th, 2018, in its packed configuration including two spacecraft, a transfer module, and a sunshield. BepiColombo cruise trajectory is a long journey into the inner heliosphere, and it includes one flyby of the Earth (in April 2020), two of Venus (in October 2020 and August 2021), and six of Mercury (starting from 2021), before orbit insertion in December 2025. A big part of the mission instruments will be fully operational during the mission cruise phase, allowing unprecedented investigation of the different environments that will encounter during the 7-years long cruise. The present paper reviews all the planetary flybys and some interesting cruise configurations. Additional scientific research that will emerge in the coming years is also discussed, including the instruments that can contribute.

scholarly journals OLCI A/B Tandem Phase Analysis, Part 1: Level 1 Homogenisation and Harmonisation

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Lamquin ◽  
Sébastien Clerc ◽  
Ludovic Bourg ◽  
Craig Donlon
Keyword(s):  
European Space Agency ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
The Other ◽  
Satellite Mission ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
The Future ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Level 2 ◽  
Very High ◽  
Sentinel 2

Copernicus is a European system for monitoring the Earth in support of European policy. It includes the Sentinel-3 satellite mission which provides reliable and up-to-date measurements of the ocean, atmosphere, cryosphere, and land. To fulfil mission requirements, two Sentinel-3 satellites are required on-orbit at the same time to meet revisit and coverage requirements in support of Copernicus Services. The inter-unit consistency is critical for the mission as more S3 platforms are planned in the future. A few weeks after its launch in April 2018, the Sentinel-3B satellite was manoeuvred into a tandem configuration with its operational twin Sentinel-3A already in orbit. Both satellites were flown only thirty seconds apart on the same orbit ground track to optimise cross-comparisons. This tandem phase lasted from early June to mid October 2018 and was followed by a short drift phase during which the Sentinel-3B satellite was progressively moved to a specific orbit phasing of 140° separation from the sentinel-3A satellite. In this paper, an output of the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-3 Tandem for Climate study (S3TC), we provide a full methodology for the homogenisation and harmonisation of the two Ocean and Land Colour Instruments (OLCI) based on the tandem phase. Homogenisation adjusts for unavoidable slight spatial and spectral differences between the two sensors and provide a basis for the comparison of the radiometry. Persistent radiometric biases of 1–2% across the OLCI spectrum are found with very high confidence. Harmonisation then consists of adjusting one instrument on the other based on these findings. Validation of the approach shows that such harmonisation then procures an excellent radiometric alignment. Performed on L1 calibrated radiances, the benefits of harmonisation are fully appreciated on Level 2 products as reported in a companion paper. Whereas our methodology aligns one sensor to behave radiometrically as the other, discussions consider the choice of the reference to be used within the operational framework. Further exploitation of the measurements indeed provides evidence of the need to perform flat-fielding on both payloads, prior to any harmonisation. Such flat-fielding notably removes inter-camera differences in the harmonisation coefficients. We conclude on the extreme usefulness of performing a tandem phase for the OLCI mission continuity as well as for any optical mission to which the methodology presented in this paper applies (e.g., Sentinel-2). To maintain the climate record, it is highly recommended that the future Sentinel-3C and Sentinel-3D satellites perform tandem flights when injected into the Sentinel-3 time series.

scholarly journals A comparison between the two lobes of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko based on D/H ratios in H2O measured with the Rosetta/ROSINA DFMS

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (4) ◽  
pp. 4734-4740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac R H G Schroeder ◽  
Kathrin Altwegg ◽  
Hans Balsiger ◽  
Jean-Jacques Berthelier ◽  
Michael R Combi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Cometary Nucleus ◽  
The Other ◽  
Appreciable Difference ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Double Focusing ◽  
Comet 67P

ABSTRACT The nucleus of the Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was discovered to be bi-lobate in shape when the European Space Agency spacecraft Rosetta first approached it in 2014 July. The bi-lobate structure of the cometary nucleus has led to much discussion regarding the possible manner of its formation and on how the composition of each lobe might compare with that of the other. During its two-year-long mission from 2014 to 2016, Rosetta remained in close proximity to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, studying its coma and nucleus in situ. Based on lobe-specific measurements of HDO and H2O performed with the ROSINA Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS) on board Rosetta, the deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratios in water from the two lobes can be compared. No appreciable difference was observed, suggesting that both lobes formed in the same region and are homogeneous in their D/H ratios.

The science return of the ESA Hera mission to the binary asteroid Didymos

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Michel ◽  
Michael Kueppers ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Direct Determination ◽  
Hypervelocity Impact ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Impact Speed ◽  
Asteroid Impact ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
The Impact

<p>The Hera mission has been approved for development and launch in the new ESA Space Safety Programme by the ESA Council at Ministerial Level, Space19+, in November 2019. Hera will both offer a high science return and contribute to the first deflection test of an asteroid, in the framework of the international NASA- and ESA-supported Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration.</p> <p>The impact of the NASA DART (Doube Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft on the natural satellite of Didymos in October 2022 will change its orbital period around Didymos. As Didymos is an eclipsing binary, and close to the Earth on this date, the change can be detected by Earth-based observers. ESA’s Hera spacecraft will rendezvous Didymos four years after the impact. Hera’s instruments will perform the measurements necessary to understand the effect of the DART impact on Didymos’ secondary, in particular its mass, its internal structure, the direct determination of the momentum transfer and the detailed characterization of the crater left by DART. This new knowledge will also provide unique information on many current issues in asteroid science.</p> <p>From small asteroid internal and surface structures, through rubble-pile evolution, impact cratering physics, to the long-term effects of space weathering in the inner Solar System, Hera will have a major impact on many fields. For instance, collisions play a fundamental role in our Solar System history, from planet formation by collisional accretion to cratering of solid surfaces and asteroid family formation by collisional disruption. The fully documented hypervelocity impact experiment provided by DART and Hera will feed collisional models with information obtained at actual asteroid scale and for an impact speed (~6 km/s) that is close to the average impact speed between asteroids in the main belt. Moreover, Hera will perform the first rendezvous with an asteroid binary, characterize the smallest object ever visited (165 m in diameter) and provide the first direct measurement of an asteroid interior. Additionally, studies using Hera data will in turn affect our understanding of the asteroid population as a whole. The scientific legacy of the Hera mission will extend far beyond the core aims of planetary defense.</p> <p>Acknowledgment: The authors acknowledge funding support from ESA and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870377 (project NEO-MAPP), from the European Space Agency and from the French space agency CNES.</p>

Impact Modeling for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test Mission

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma S.G. Rainey ◽  
Angela M. Stickle ◽  
Andrew F. Cheng ◽  
Andrew S. Rivkin ◽  
Nancy L. Chabot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Period Change ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Full Scale Test ◽  
Binary Asteroid ◽  
Asteroid Impact ◽  
Planetary Defense ◽  
Asteroid Deflection ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Binary Asteroid System

Abstract The Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration is a joint ESA-NASA planetary defense collaboration that will include the first full-scale test of an asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor [1]. The AIDA collaboration comprises two independent spacecraft, the NASA-sponsored Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and the ESA-led Hera. In September 2022 the DART spacecraft will impact the secondary member of the binary asteroid system 65803 Didymos (Didymos-B) at a speed of ~6.7 km/s and mass ~500 kg. The resulting period change in the orbit of Didymos-B will be measured using Earth-based observations. Hera will arrive post-impact and perform detailed measurements to characterize Didymos-B.

scholarly journals Occurrence of GPS Loss of Lock Based on a Swarm Half-Solar Cycle Dataset and Its Relation to the Background Ionosphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2209
Author(s):  
Michael Pezzopane ◽  
Alessio Pignalberi ◽  
Igino Coco ◽  
Giuseppe Consolini ◽  
Paola De Michelis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Positioning System ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
The Other ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Weather Effects ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Global Positioning

This paper discusses the occurrence of Global Positioning System (GPS) loss of lock events obtained by considering total electron content (TEC) measurements carried out by the three satellites of the European Space Agency Swarm constellation from December 2013 to December 2020, which represents the longest dataset ever used to perform such an analysis. After describing the approach used to classify a GPS loss of lock, the corresponding occurrence is analyzed as a function of latitude, local time, season, and solar activity to identify well-defined patterns. Moreover, the strict relation of the occurrence of the GPS loss of lock events with defined values of both the rate of change of electron density index (RODI) and the rate of change of TEC index (ROTI) is highlighted. The scope of this study is, on one hand, to characterize the background conditions of the ionosphere for such events and, on the other hand, to pave the way for their possible future modeling. The results shown, especially the fact that GPS loss of lock events tend to happen for well-defined values of both RODI and ROTI, are of utmost importance in the light of Space Weather effects mitigation.

Exosat for Ground-based Observers

1982 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 458-460
Author(s):  
A. B. Giles
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
The Other ◽  
Baseline Design ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
Unique Capability

The first version of this mission was approved by the European Space Agency (ESA) Council in 1973 but did not infact start its Phase B study until 1977. The early baseline design had been constrained by the requirement to make the spacecraft compatible in size and weight with the performance of a NASA Delta rocket, since this was seen as a necessary back-up to Ariane, then at an early stage of development. The mission payload then evolved with time due to the changing role dictated by the technical successes and observations made by the series of well-known X-ray satellites. The final spacecraft has emerged to have a unique capability since all the other X-ray satellites except the small Hakucho have now expired.

scholarly journals BepiColombo - Mission Overview and Science Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 217 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Benkhoff ◽  
G. Murakami ◽  
W. Baumjohann ◽  
S. Besse ◽  
E. Bunce ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Terrestrial Planet ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
History Of ◽  
Joint Mission ◽  
Scientific Return ◽  
Scientific Payload

AbstractBepiColombo is a joint mission between the European Space Agency, ESA, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, to perform a comprehensive exploration of Mercury. Launched on $20^{\mathrm{th}}$ 20 th October 2018 from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, the spacecraft is now en route to Mercury.Two orbiters have been sent to Mercury and will be put into dedicated, polar orbits around the planet to study the planet and its environment. One orbiter, Mio, is provided by JAXA, and one orbiter, MPO, is provided by ESA. The scientific payload of both spacecraft will provide detailed information necessary to understand the origin and evolution of the planet itself and its surrounding environment. Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun, the only terrestrial planet besides Earth with a self-sustained magnetic field, and the smallest planet in our Solar System. It is a key planet for understanding the evolutionary history of our Solar System and therefore also for the question of how the Earth and our Planetary System were formed.The scientific objectives focus on a global characterization of Mercury through the investigation of its interior, surface, exosphere, and magnetosphere. In addition, instrumentation onboard BepiColombo will be used to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Major effort was put into optimizing the scientific return of the mission by defining a payload such that individual measurements can be interrelated and complement each other.

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