scholarly journals Retrieval of ionospheric profiles from the Mars Express MARSIS experiment data and comparison with radio occultation data

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Sánchez-Cano ◽  
O. Witasse ◽  
M. Herraiz ◽  
S. M. Radicella ◽  
J. Bauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
Radio Science ◽  
The Public ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Martian Ionosphere ◽  
Occultation Data ◽  
Ionospheric Sounding

Abstract. Since 2005 the Mars Advanced Radar and Ionospheric Sounding experiment (MARSIS) aboard Mars Express has acquired a unique dataset on the ionosphere of Mars made up of ionospheric soundings taken by the instrument working in its active ionospheric sounding (AIS) mode. These soundings play a role similar to those of modern Terrestrial digisondes in the analysis of our planet ionosphere and have allowed us to dramatically improve our knowledge about the Martian ionosphere. This paper describes this kind of data, which are available from the public Planetary Science Archive, and introduces the MAISDAT tool developed by the European Space Agency to analyze and derive the vertical profile of electron density. Comparisons with radio occultation profiles obtained from Mars Express Radio Science instrument are performed to validate the procedure used in this study.

scholarly journals Retrieval of ionospheric profiles from the Mars Express MARSIS experiment data and comparison with radio-occultation data

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
B. Sánchez-Cano ◽  
O. Witasse ◽  
M. Herraiz ◽  
S. M. Radicella ◽  
J. Bauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
Radio Science ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Martian Ionosphere ◽  
Occultation Data ◽  
Ionospheric Sounding

Abstract. Since 2005 the Mars Advanced Radar and Ionospheric Sounding experiment (MARSIS) aboard Mars Express has acquired a unique data set on the ionosphere of Mars made up of ionospheric soundings taken by the instrument working in its Active Ionospheric Sounding (AIS) mode. These soundings play a role similar to those of modern Terrestrial digisondes in the analysis of our planet ionosphere and have allowed us to dramatically improve our knowledge about the Martian ionosphere. This paper describes this kind of data, which are available from the public Planetary Science Archive, and introduces the MAISDAT tool developed by the European Space Agency to analyze and derive the vertical profile of electron density. Comparisons with radio-occultation profiles obtained from Mars Express Radio Science instrument are performed to validate the procedure used in this study.

Europe's Path To Mars: The European Space Agency's Mars Express Mission

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Russo
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Mars Exploration ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
The Public ◽  
Science Programme ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
History Of

Mars Express is the first planetary mission accomplished by the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in early June 2003, the spacecraft entered Mars's orbit on Christmas day of that year, demonstrating the new European commitment to planetary exploration. Following a failed attempt in the mid-1980s, two valid proposals for a European mission to Mars were submitted to ESA's decision-making bodies in the early 1990s, in step with renewed international interest in Mars exploration. Both were rejected, however, in the competitive selection process for the agency's Science Programme. Eventually, the Mars Express proposal emerged during a severe budgetary crisis in the mid-1990s as an exemplar of a “flexible mission” that could reduce project costs and development time. Its successful maneuvering through financial difficulties and conflicting scientific interests was due to the new management approach as well as to the public appeal of Mars exploration. In addition to providing a case study in the functioning of the ESA's Science Programme, the story of Mars Express discussed in this paper provides a case study in the functioning of the European Space Agency's Science Programme and suggests some general considerations on the peculiar position of space research in the general field of the history of science and technology.

scholarly journals Calibration Techniques for Studying Venus and Mars Atmospheres

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
Edoardo Gramigna
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Mars Atmosphere ◽  
Radio Science ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Spacecraft Trajectory ◽  
Venus Express ◽  
Calibration Techniques ◽  
Venus Atmosphere

AbstractThe European Space Agency Venus Express mission (VEX) was sent to Venus in 2005 to unveil the unsolved mysteries regarding its atmosphere, the plasma environment and its temperatures. Radio occultation experiments performed by VeRa radio science instrument probed the planet’s atmosphere by studying the frequency shift on the radio signal sent by the spacecraft to Earth-based ground stations. This study carries out the calibration of the radio frequencies within a radio occultation experiment in order to correct the main sources of error as: thermal noise, spacecraft clock, spacecraft trajectory, and plasma noise. Any uncalibrated effects will bias the retrieval of atmospheric properties. A comparison of the occultation experiments between Venus and Mars is presented, both from the engineering and scientific point of view, through the analysis of Venus Express and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) occultations data, highlighting stronger calibrations required for VEX, the extreme, hostile, thick Venus’ atmosphere, and a friendly, thin Mars’ atmosphere. This investigation analyzes Venus Express data recorded by the NASA Deep Space Network in 2014, and the results are compatible to previous studies of Venus atmosphere with VEX between 2006 and 2009.

Using the ESA’s Planetary Science Archive to Search for Mars Express VMC Data of an Elongated Cloud near Arsia Mons

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Grotheer ◽  
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
The Public ◽  
Processing Level ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Planetary Missions

<p><strong>Introduction</strong>: The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express (MEX) mission to Mars has been returning valuable scientific data for ~17 years.  This data is available to the public for free via the Planetary Science Archive (PSA), which houses the raw, calibrated, and higher-level data returned by the ESA’s planetary missions, including data provided by the various MEX instrument teams.  The Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) was originally used to monitor the deployment of the Beagle 2 lander.  In recent years, these images have been worked on by a science team from Bilbao for scientific research.  These raw and processed images of this new ‘8th instrument’ have been included in the PSA, including observations of an elongated cloud near Arsia Mons that garnered considerable public attention [1].  In this presentation we will show how to use the PSA user interface to find this data.</p><p><br><strong>The PSA user interfaces</strong>: The ESA’s PSA uses the Planetary Data System (PDS) format developed by NASA to store the data from its various planetary missions.  In the case of MEX, the data is stored in the PDS3 format, which primarily uses ASCII files to store and describe the data.  There are two primary ways in which to find the data.  One is the FTP area, which houses all the public data in the PSA.  Here, there are no advanced search capabilities, but it does provide access to all the supporting files and documentation for the various datasets.  When first searching for new data, users would benefit from using the web-based search interfaces [2].  Here the user can search using various parameters, such as mission name, target (e.g. Mars), instrument name, processing level, observation times, etc.  The development of the PSA’s search capabilities continues, thus more search parameters continue to be added.  The Image View interface is particularly helpful when looking through browse images provided by the instrument teams.  Recently, a prototype of a new Map View has been made public, in which most of the MEX data can be seen.  These various search methods rely on the metadata provided by the instrument teams in the labels associated with each of the data products.</p><p><strong>Access and Feedback</strong>: All this data can be freely accessed at the ESA’s PSA, at https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/.  There are multiple ways of browsing the data.  The development of the PSA’s user interface is an ongoing project, and we welcome feedback from the community for suggestions on new ways to search this wealth of data.  Feedback and suggestions can be sent to [email protected].</p><p><strong>References</strong>: <br>[1] Bauer M. (2018, October 25) ESA Science & Exploration. Mars Express keeps an eye on curious cloud. Retrieved from http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_keeps_an_eye_on_curious_cloud<br>[2] Besse S., Vallat C., Barthelemy M., Coia D., Costa M., De Marchi G., Fraga D., Grotheer E., Heather D., Lim T., Martinez S., Arviset C., Barbarisi I., Docosal R., Macfarlane A., Rios C., Saiz J., and Vallejo F. (2018) Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 150, pp. 131-140.</p>

Analysis of selected Solar events with Mars Express radio occultation data 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özgür Karatekin ◽  
Ananya Krishnan ◽  
Nayeem Ebrahimkutty ◽  
Greg Henry ◽  
Ahmed El Fadhel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
Solar Events ◽  
Occultation Data ◽  
Radio Occultation Data

scholarly journals THE ZADKO OBSERVATORY

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
J. A. Moore ◽  
B. Gendre ◽  
D. M. Coward ◽  
H. Crisp ◽  
A. Klotz
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Global Awareness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technical Management ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Nearby Stars ◽  
Near Earth Asteroids ◽  
Single Instrument

The 1.0 metre f/4 fast-slew Zadko Telescope was installed in June 2008 approximately seventy kilometres north of Perth at Yeal, in the Shire of Gingin, Western Australia. Since the Zadko Telescope has been in operation it has proven its worth by detecting numerous Gamma Ray Burst afterglows, two of these being the most distant 'optical transients' imaged by an Australian telescope. Other projects include a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to image potentially hazardous near Earth asteroids (2019), monitoring space weather on nearby stars (2019), and photometry of a transit of Saturn's moon Titan (2018). Another active Zadko Telescope project is tracking Geostationary satellites and attempting to use photometry to classify various space debris (defunct satellites). The Zadko Telescope's importance as a potential tool for education, training, and public outreach cannot be underestimated, as the global awareness of the importance of astronomy (and space science) as a context for teaching science continues to increase. An example of this was the national media coverage of its contribution to the discovery of colliding neutron stars in 2017, capturing the imagination of the public. In this proceeding, I will focus on the practical aspects of managing a robotic Observatory, focusing on the sustainability of the Observatory and the technical management involved in hosting different commercial projects. I will review the evolution of the Observatory, from its early, single instrument, state to its current multi-telescope and multi-instrument capabilities. I will finish by outlining the future of the Observatory and the site.

The Making of the Moon

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chambers ◽  
Jacqueline Mitton
Keyword(s):  
European Space Agency ◽  
Lunar Exploration ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Public ◽  
China And India ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Lunar Prospector ◽  
Large Satellite ◽  
The 1960S

This chapter considers how the very existence of the Moon, the only large satellite in the inner solar system, is a puzzle. The Moon is sufficiently large that one would think of it as a planet if it traveled around the Sun rather than Earth. Much of what the public now knows about the Moon comes from space missions, beginning in the 1960s and early 1970s. Six American Apollo missions each landed two astronauts on the surface. Three of the Soviet Union's unmanned Luna spacecraft touched down on the surface and then returned to Earth. After a long gap, lunar exploration resumed in the 1990s, when NASA's Clementine and Lunar Prospector spacecraft went into orbit. Recently, the pace of exploration has increased again, with the European Space Agency, Japan, China, and India, as well as NASA, all sending missions to the Moon.

A Sporadic Third Layer in the Ionosphere of Mars

Science ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 310 (5749) ◽  
pp. 837-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pätzold ◽  
S. Tellmann ◽  
B. Häusler ◽  
D. Hinson ◽  
R. Schaa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Density ◽  
Charge Exchange ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Electron Densities ◽  
Ionospheric Layer ◽  
Density Profiles ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
Radio Science ◽  
Martian Ionosphere ◽  
Electron Density Profiles

The daytime martian ionosphere has been observed as a two-layer structure with electron densities that peak at altitudes between about 110 and 130 kilometers. The Mars Express Orbiter Radio Science Experiment on the European Mars Express spacecraft observed, in 10 out of 120 electron density profiles, a third ionospheric layer at altitude ranges of 65 to 110 kilometers, where electron densities, on average, peaked at 0.8 × 1010 per cubic meter. Such a layer has been predicted to be permanent and continuous. Its origin has been attributed to ablation of meteors and charge exchange of magnesium and iron. Our observations imply that this layer is present sporadically and locally.

New search capabilities based on observational geometry for Mars Express data in the ESA’s Planetary Science Archive

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Grotheer ◽  
Nicolas Manaud ◽  
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Geometrical Parameters ◽  
Search Interface ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
The Public ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Planetary Missions ◽  
Search Capability ◽  
Archived Data

<div>The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express (MEX) mission to Mars has been returning valuable scientific data for ~16 years.  This data is available to the public for free via the Planetary Science Archive (PSA), which houses the raw, calibrated, and higher-level data returned by the ESA’s planetary missions, including data provided by the various MEX instrument teams.  Besides an FTP server, there is also a user interface with different search views available for the public to search for archived data.  Development of a map-based search interface is underway.  As a first step towards this, the geometrical parameters of all the data products from a wide variety of instruments had to be computed in a unified manner.  These values will be used to enable searches based on observational geometry via the Table View, and other views as well.   </div><div>1. The PSA user interfaces</div><div>The ESA’s PSA uses the Planetary Data System (PDS) format developed by NASA to store the data from its various planetary missions.  In the case of MEX, the data is stored in the PDS3 format, which primarily uses ASCII files to store and describe the data.  When first searching for new data, users would benefit from using the Table View search interface [1].  Here the user can search using various parameters, such as mission name, target (e.g. Mars), instrument name, processing level, observation times, etc.  The development of the PSA’s search capabilities continues, thus more search parameters will be added over time.  In particular, this presentation will focus on the development of new filter menus within the Table View to allow for searches based on the observational geometry of the data products. </div><div>Also available in the Table View interface is a section for “Free Search”, allowing one to use Contextual Query Language (CQL) to search over additional parameters.  These various search methods rely mainly on the metadata provided by the instrument teams in the labels associated with each of the data products.  In the case of the observational geometry searches, in order to provide a uniform search capability, the GEOGEN tool was developed by SpaceFrog Design to provide the tables of relevant parameters to be queried.</div><div> </div><div>2. Summary and Conclusions</div><div>Thanks to the efforts of the MEX instrument teams, the MEX Science Ground Segment team, and the PSA Archive Scientists and Engineers, over 16 years worth of observational data from Mars orbit are available to the public.  This data can be freely accessed at the ESA’s PSA, at .  There are multiple ways of browsing the archived data, including those from other planetary missions, though in this presentation we will focus on the new observational geometry search capability that will become available soon. </div><div>The development of the PSA’s user interface is an ongoing project, and we welcome feedback from the community for suggestions on new ways to search this wealth of data.  Feedback and suggestions can be sent to .</div>

Analysis of solar events with Mars Express radio occultation data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özgür Karatekin ◽  
Ananya Krishnan ◽  
Julien Drevon ◽  
Ahmed El Fadhel ◽  
Nicolas Bergeot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Mars Express ◽  
Solar Events ◽  
Occultation Data ◽  
Radio Occultation Data
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