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The high-resolution stereo camera (HRSC) experiment on Mars Express: Instrument aspects and experiment conduct from interplanetary cruise through the nominal mission
Jaumann, R.; Stephan, K.; Oberst, J. +24 more
ESA's Mars Express has successfully completed its nominal mission of one Martian year covering about 25% of the surface in stereo and color with resolutions up to 10 m/pixel by its high-resolution stereo camera (HRSC). Mars Express is now in its extended mission phase, during which much of the remaining part of the Martian surface is envisaged to …
The Analyser of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-4) for the Venus Express mission
Coates, A. J.; Kallio, E.; Fedorov, A. +43 more
The general scientific objective of the ASPERA-4 (Analyser of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms) experiment is to study the solar wind-atmosphere interaction and characterise the plasma and neutral gas environment in the near-Venus space through energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging and local charged particle measurements. The studies to be perform…
Venus Express—The first European mission to Venus
Barabash, S.; Pätzold, M.; Zhang, T. L. +24 more
Venus Express is the first European mission to planet Venus. The mission aims at a comprehensive investigation of Venus atmosphere and plasma environment and will address some important aspects of the surface physics from orbit. In particular, Venus Express will focus on the structure, composition, and dynamics of the Venus atmosphere, escape proc…
Correlations between Cassini VIMS spectra and RADAR SAR images: Implications for Titan's surface composition and the character of the Huygens Probe Landing Site
Nicholson, Philip D.; Sotin, Christophe; Barnes, Jason W. +24 more
Titan's vast equatorial fields of RADAR-dark longitudinal dunes seen in Cassini RADAR synthetic aperture images correlate with one of two dark surface units discriminated as "brown" and "blue" in Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) color composites of short-wavelength infrared spectral cubes (RGB as 2.0, 1.6, 1.3 µm). In such co…
SPICAV on Venus Express: Three spectrometers to study the global structure and composition of the Venus atmosphere
Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Dimarellis, E.; Reberac, A. +33 more
Spectroscopy for the investigation of the characteristics of the atmosphere of Venus (SPICAV) is a suite of three spectrometers in the UV and IR range with a total mass of 13.9 kg flying on the Venus Express (VEX) orbiter, dedicated to the study of the atmosphere of Venus from ground level to the outermost hydrogen corona at more than 40,000 km. I…
Scientific goals for the observation of Venus by VIRTIS on ESA/Venus express mission
Baines, K. H.; Bibring, J. -P.; Langevin, Y. +41 more
The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on board the ESA/Venus Express mission has technical specifications well suited for many science objectives of Venus exploration. VIRTIS will both comprehensively explore a plethora of atmospheric properties and processes and map optical properties of the surface through its three chan…
Structure of the Venus atmosphere
Khatuntsev, I.; Zasova, L. V.; Ignatiev, N. +1 more
The structure of the Venus atmosphere is discussed. The data obtained in the 1980s by the last Soviet missions to Venus: orbiters Venera 15, 16 and the entry probes and balloons of Vega 1 and 2 are compared with the Venus International Reference Atmosphere (VIRA) model. VIRA is based on the data of the extensive space investigations of Venus in th…
Mineralogy and evolution of the surface of Mars: A review
Chevrier, V.; Mathé, P. E.
We review the mineralogy of the surface of Mars, using data from various sources, including in situ characterisations performed by landers, remote observations from orbit, and studies of the SNC meteorites. We also discuss the possible alteration processes and the factor controlling them, and try to relate the mineralogical observations to the che…
X-rays from solar system objects
Snowden, Steven L.; Bhardwaj, Anil; Branduardi-Raymont, Graziella +11 more
During the last few years our knowledge about the X-ray emission from bodies within the solar system has significantly improved. Several new solar system objects are now known to shine in X-rays at energies below 2 keV. Apart from the Sun, the known X-ray emitters now include planets (Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), planetary satellites …
Topography and geomorphology of the Huygens landing site on Titan
Karkoschka, Erich; Tomasko, Martin G.; Kirk, Randolph L. +16 more
The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) aboard the Huygens Probe took several hundred visible-light images with its three cameras on approach to the surface of Titan. Several sets of stereo image pairs were collected during the descent. The digital terrain models constructed from those images show rugged topography, in places approaching the…