[Space] ESA - Mars Express Mission - Update thread

[GioFX]

La missione dell'ESA per la sua prima sonda (orbiter) interplanetaria su Marte è stata parzialmente oscurata dall'insuccesso di quella parte (10%) del lander Beagle 2 del consorzio inglese Astrium (già in crisi di fondi all'epoca della pianificazione della missione) al quale è venuta in contro con in finanziamenti mancanti (sempre poco dato il basso costo del progetto del solo Beagle) proprio l'Agenzia Spaziale Europea.





Ricordiamo i principali fatti della missione:

Ente: ESA
Missione: Interplanetaria/Marte - Mars Express
Lancio: 02.07.2003 - Baikonur-Turyatam (Kazhakstan) / RosaviaKosmos
Vettore: Starsem Soyuz-Fregat
Arrivo: 25.12.2003
Posizionamento in orbita polare: 04.01.2004

Strumenti orbiter:

- High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)




- OMEGA Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer




- SPICAM Ultraviolet and Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometer




- Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS)




- ASPERA Energetic Neutral Atoms Analyser



Caratteristiche tecniche dell'orbiter:

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Exp...785V9ED_0.html


15 January 2004

ESA's Mars Express spacecraft is currently in a near-final orbit around Mars with a period of 10 hours. Flight controllers are now isolating the main engine, which fired for the last time on 11 January, finishing its work on the mission after performing flawlessly.

To complete the manoeuvre into its final operational orbit, Mars Express will make a series of seven firings of its small thrusters, the first on 15 January and the last on the 26 January. The final orbital period will be 7.6 hours.
All instruments have successfully been switched on, and have started to deliver data (except for the boom deployment of the radar which is planned for April, in accordance with the science planning of the mission).

[GioFX]

15 January 2004

Mars Express will be taking sensor data over the Spirit landing site on Friday per todays JPL news conference.

[maxsona]

Ma per il Bigolo allora non c'è più nulla da fare ? le hanno fatte le foto della zona di atterraggio ?

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da maxsona
Ma per il Bigolo allora non c'è più nulla da fare ? le hanno fatte le foto della zona di atterraggio ?

Al controllo missione hanno deciso di entrare in silenzio radio fino al 22 gennaio, in modo che Beagle passi in SM2 (search mode 2), programma caricato nel computer che prevede l'invio in automatico della portante a terra durante tutto il giorno marziano, riservando la notte alla ricarica delle batterie.

Cmq l'antenna Maris non è ancora stata attivata.

[maxsona]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX
Al controllo missione hanno deciso di entrare in silenzio radio fino al 22 gennaio, in modo che Beagle passi in SM2 (search mode 2), programma caricato nel computer che prevede l'invio in automatico della portante a terra durante tutto il giorno marziano, riservando la notte alla ricarica delle batterie.

Cmq l'antenna Maris non è ancora stata attivata.

Ma che batterie usano ?...non sarebbero più efficenti delle celle a combustibile...

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da maxsona
Ma che batterie usano ?...non sarebbero più efficenti delle celle a combustibile...

Si usano batterie a ioni di litio perchè molto più piccole, leggere ed economiche di pile a celle... cmq fanno circa 60 Ah, alla faccia delle batterie al litio.

Le sonde insterstellari studiate per le missioni nel sistema solare, come Voyager usa(va)no invece batterie a radioisotopi.

[gpc]

Ciao GioFX, ben tornato
Le news sulla Mars Express le prendi dal sito della Mars Express? (che domanda idiota che ho scritto )

[Gyxx]

Bentornato anke da parte mia ... ...ma lo sguardo con i dispositivi ottici nella zona del presunto ammartaggio allora non l' hanno poi fatta ???? Mi ricordo qlk settimana fa si parlava del fatto che probabilmente si sarebbero riusciti a veder i rottami e/o se il bestiolino era finito proprio fuori zona ....

Ciapps

Gyxx

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da gpc
Le news sulla Mars Express le prendi dal sito della Mars Express? (che domanda idiota che ho scritto )

Certo, il sito ESA della missione Mars Express ovviamente, poi Mars.tv, Marsdaily, Space.com e Spaceflightnow.

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da Gyxx
Bentornato anke da parte mia ... ...ma lo sguardo con i dispositivi ottici nella zona del presunto ammartaggio allora non l' hanno poi fatta ???? Mi ricordo qlk settimana fa si parlava del fatto che probabilmente si sarebbero riusciti a veder i rottami e/o se il bestiolino era finito proprio fuori zona ....

Ciapps

Gyxx

Con una risoluzione di 2m vedi fino ad una tazzina da caffe... il problema è che ancora l'antenna maris non è stata attivata e che, essendo Marte grandino, ci vorrà del tempo...

L'orbiter si dedicherà ora a Spirit, facendo da ponte con Odyssey per avere informazioni incrociate giorno e notte e per testare la compatibilità di trasmissione, come da accordi presi tra ESA e NASA.

Mars Express, Mars Global Surveyor e Mars Odyssey tra qualche mese verranno utilizzate come una specie di mini-GPS, anche se non è corretto parlare di costellazione di satelliti (concepiti soprattutto per altro tipo di missioni) ma sarà un'anticipazione del progetto europeo-americano di creare una piccola costellazione di satelliti (con 2 dedicati che arriveranno sul pianeta rosso non oltre il 2009 in grado di rilevare la posizione di rover e altri veicoli e comunicare a terra tramite la Deep Space Network in altissima velocità.

[maxsona]

Dai che progettiamo un robottino anche noi

[GioFX]

Spirit also will participate in a first-of-a-kind joint project with the European Space Agency's recently arrived Mars Express orbiter.

"There's a remarkable event that's going to take place tomorrow where the Mars Express orbiter is going to go over our site and for the first time, we're going to be doing coordinated, international surface and orbit observations on the surface of another planet," Squyres said. "That's going to be really cool.

"Mars Express is going to be looking down with a very sophisticated suite of sensors at the very same time that we can look up and we can look at the terrain around us. So we'll be looking at the same patch of soil, looking through the same column of atmosphere at the same time Mars Express is going overhead. That's an opportunity not to be missed."

[GioFX]

Joining forces around Mars

16 January 2004

Today, ESA’s Mars Express orbiter flies almost directly over the NASA Spirit rover at Gusev Crater at an altitude of about 300 kilometres. Mars Express uses four instruments to look down, while Spirit looks up.

Mars Express will be looking down with its High Resolution Stereo Camera and three spectrometers: OMEGA for identifying minerals in infrared and visible wavelengths, and the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) and SPICAM for studying atmospheric circulation and composition. Spirit will be looking up with its panoramic camera and an infrared spectrometer.
Spirit’s science team will be able to take advantage of the special possibilities presented by this pass of the European orbiter. The aim is to get observations from above and below at the same time to determine the dynamics of the atmosphere as accurately as possible.

The Mars Express observations are also expected to supplement earlier information from two NASA Mars orbiters about the surface minerals and geological features in Gusev Crater.

Dr Ray Arvidson, Deputy Principal Investigator for the science instruments on the Spirit rover, said: “This is an historic opportunity.” Spirit’s infrared spectrometer, the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) can be used to assess the temperatures in the Mars atmosphere from the planet’s surface to a height of several kilometres.

The Mars Express measurements are most sensitive for the upper atmosphere, while Spirit’s measurements are most sensitive for the lower portion of the atmosphere.

Agustin Chicarro, ESA’s Project Scientist for Mars Express, said: “This is the first time that two space agencies are co-operating on another planet with two spacecraft. It is remarkable to know that one is in orbit and one is on the surface, both taking measurements to complement each other.”

[GioFX]

LA PRIMA FOTO DI MARS EXPRESS!


Europe's eye on Mars: first spectacular results from Mars Express


Europe's first close-up image of Mars

ESA PR 05-2004. ESA's Mars Express, successfully inserted into orbit around Mars on 25 December 2003, is about to reach its final operating orbit above the poles of the Red Planet. The scientific investigation has just started and the first results already look very promising, as this first close-up image shows.

Although the seven scientific instruments on board Mars Express are still undergoing a thorough calibration phase, they have already started collecting amazing results. The first high-resolution images and spectra of Mars have already been acquired.
This first spectacular stereoscopic colour picture was taken on 14 January 2004 by ESA’s Mars Express satellite from 275 km above the surface of Mars by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). This image is available on the ESA Portal at: http://mars.esa.int

The picture shows a portion of a 1700 km long and 65 km wide swath which was taken in south-north direction across the Grand Canyon of Mars (Valles Marineris). It is the first image of this size that shows the surface of Mars in high resolution (12 metres per pixel), in colour, and in 3D. The total area of the image on the Martian surface (top left corner) corresponds to 120 000 km². The lower part of the picture shows the same region in perspective view as if seen from a low-flying aircraft. This perspective view was generated on a computer from the original image data. One looks at a landscape which has been predominantly shaped by the erosional action of water. Millions of cubic kilometres of rock have been removed, and the surface features seen now such as mountain ranges, valleys, and mesas, have been formed.

The HRSC is just one of the instruments to have collected exciting data. To learn more about the very promising beginning to ESA's scientific exploration of Mars, media representatives are invited to attend a press conference on Friday, 23 January 2004, at 11:00 CET at ESA’s Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, and in video-conference with the other ESA centres.

There, under the auspices of ESA Council Chair, Germany's Minister for Education and Research, Mrs Edelgard Bulmahn, ESA's Director of the Scientific Programme, Prof. David Southwood and the Principal Investigators of all instruments on board Mars Express will present the first data and preliminary results.

Also a spectacular, three-dimensional video sequence, featuring famous landmarks on the surface of Mars 'as seen through European eyes' will be unveiled for the first time on Friday 23 January.


19 January 2004

Picture taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express orbiter on 14 January 2004 under the responsibility of the Principal Investigator Prof. Gerhard Neukum. It was processed by the Institute for Planetary Research of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), also involved in the development of the camera, and by the Institute of Geosciences of the Freie Universität Berlin.
It shows a portion of a 1700 km long and 65 km wide swath which was taken in south-north direction across the Grand Canyon of Mars (Valles Marineris) from two perspectives. It is the first image of this size that shows the surface of Mars in high resolution (12 metres per pixel), in colour and in 3D.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

High resolution JPG (750 kB): http://www.esa.int/export/externals/...HRSC_FINAL.jpg

High resolution TIFF (17.666 kB): http://www.esa.int/export/externals/...RSC_FINAL.tiff

Wallpaper (1024x768): http://www.esa.int/export/mex_mm/ima...e_1024x768.jpg

[GioFX]

Cioè dico, la più bella e ad alta definizione foto di Marte e non ve ne frega una mazza?

Vabbè...

Mars Express Sends Back First High-Resolution Pictures of Planet

By Peter de Selding
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 01:00 pm ET
19 January 2004

PARIS-- Europe's Mars Express satellite has produced a color 3D image of the Red Planet's surface, a rugged area near the planet's equator called the Grand Canyon of Mars, or Valles Marineris .

The image, released by the European Space Agency on Jan. 19, shows a landscape that appears to resemble Earth's Grand Canyon, with deep valleys gouged out of the surface rock by water that scientists now suspect may have migrated beneath Mars' surface and remain in the form of ice.

The ESA described the first pictures, shot at a resolution of 12 meters (39 feet) per pixel, as "very promising."

The image, it said, shows "a landscape which has been predominantly shaped by the erosional action of water," with surface features including mountain ranges, valleys and mesas

The picture was taken Jan. 14 by the Mars Express High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). It shows an area 1057 miles (1,700 km) long and about 41 miles (65 km) wide that was captured by the HRSC as the satellite flew at an altitude of 171 miles (275 km).

HRSC is one of seven observing instruments on Mars Express. The satellite's radar imager, to be activated in April, is designed to penetrate several kilometers beneath the surface of the planet to hunt for water sources.

Mars Express is set to orbit the planet for at least one Martian year -- almost two Earth years.

The orbiter carries two-thirds of the European Mars mission's experiments, among them instruments that will search for ultraviolet atmosphere.

Carrying its companion Beagle 2 lander, Mars Express was launched last June from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The lander, released toward the surface by the orbiter Dec. 19, hasn't been heard from since its own scheduled landing on Christmas Day.

[GioFX]

La prima foto:

http://www.space.com/images/h_marsex...irstpic_02.jpg

Picture taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA's Mars Express orbiter on 14 January 2004. It shows an area 1057 miles (1,700 km) long and about 41 miles (65 km) wide that was captured by the HRSC as the satellite flew at an altitude of 171 miles (275 km). CREDIT: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

http://www.space.com/images/h_marsex...stpic3D_02.jpg

This image shows the Valles Marineris region in perspective view as if seen from a low-flying aircraft. This perspective view was generated on a computer from the original first image data. CREDIT: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

[jumpermax]

come non ci interessa... sto scaricando il jpeg grosso... cmq 12 metri per pixel mi sembrano tanti... quanto è grande l'area ripresa?

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da jumpermax
come non ci interessa... sto scaricando il jpeg grosso... cmq 12 metri per pixel mi sembrano tanti... quanto è grande l'area ripresa?

1700 km x 65 km

e non è la massima risoluzione...

[jumpermax]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX
1700 km x 65 km

e non è la massima risoluzione...

non ti sembra un po' tanto però? se davvero ad ogni pixel corrispondono 2 metri o la foto è interpolata o il sensore "equivalente" è di 732Mpixel.... molto probabile è vero che sia uno stitch... cmq con un sensore da 3 megapixel sarebbero circa 250 foto...

[jumpermax]

ah ok non è una fotocamera
http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/e...ameraeng.shtml