Search Publications

Development of a new Phobos spectral simulant: spectral properties from visible to the mid-infrared range

Barucci, M. A.; Fornasier, S.; Doressoundiram, A. +6 more

Phobos is the target of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), the next sample return mission of the Japanese space agency (JAXA). The mission will investigate the origin of Phobos and Deimos - the two martian moons, using a suite of dedicated instruments. Infrared analysis of the surface composition will be performed by the MIRS spectrometer onboar…

Total electron content depression in the nightside Martian ionosphere: statistical results from Mars Express MARSIS measurements and implications

Rong, Zhaojin; Li, Lei; Wei, Yong +7 more

Thermal electron depression and energetic electron depletion are two well-known features of the nightside Martian ionosphere. While the latter has been extensively studied in the past, there is no report of systematic and firm identification of the former and hence the correlation between them is unknown. Applying an automatic procedure to the Mar…

Simulation of Phobos gravity field estimation from Tianwen-1 flybys and implications for the modelling of Phobos' internal structure

Liu, L.; Chen, Y. H.; Guo, X. +4 more

Doppler radio tracking data from Tianwen-1, China's first Mars mission, could contribute to a better estimate of the gravity field of Phobos. In this study, we show that a determination up to degree and order 3 is feasible by considering five additional flybys of Phobos by the Tianwen-1 spacecraft, in addition to the previous flybys already done b…