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Determination of physical properties of a planetary surface by measuring the deceleration of a probe upon impact: Application to Titan

Lorenz, Ralph D.; McKay, Christopher P.; Seiff, Alvin +3 more

We report scale model laboratory experiments showing how an impact accelerometer on a planetary probe (based on the Huygens probe Phase A configuration) can provide significant information on the mechanical characteristics of the surface. In particular, solid and liquid surfaces can be discriminated. The density of liquids can in principle be dete…

Shading under Titan's sky

Grieger, B.

During the descent of the Huygens probe in January 2005, its Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) will take the first close up images of Titan's surface. The shading imposed by the illumination of a planetary surface contains information on its topography. For planetary bodies without an optically thick atmosphere, the light can be assumed to…

Spatial structure of beamlets according to Cluster observations

Zelenyi, L. M.; Sauvaud, J. -A.; Dunlop, M. W. +4 more

Beamlets are sporadic bursty ion beams with energies about 10-30 keV observed in the lobes - plasma sheet interface. To investigate the spatial structure of this phenomenon we used Cluster data for the fall and summer of 2001 time interval. Both case study and statistical study have been performed. At a later stage of statistical study Interball d…

Special Issue: First results of the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer aboard the Mars Express mission

Sotin, Christophe; Encrenaz, Thérèse