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Mars Express
''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission by the European Space Agency, European Space Agency (ESA) exploring the planet Mars and its moons since 2003, and the first planetary mission attempted by ESA. ''Mars Express'' consisted of two parts, the ''Mars Express Orbiter'' and ''Beagle 2'', a Lander (spacecraft), lander designed to perform exobiology and geochemistry research. Although the lander failed to fully deploy after it landed on the Martian surface, the orbiter has been successfully performing scientific measurements since early 2004, namely, image resolution, high-resolution imaging and mineralogical mapping of the surface, radar sounding of the subsurface structure down to the permafrost, precise determination of the atmospheric circulation and composition, and study of the interaction of the Atmosphere of Mars, atmosphere with the interplanetary medium. Due to the valuable science return and the highly flexible mission profile, ''Mars Express'' has been granted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water On Mars
Although very small amounts of liquid water may occur transiently on the surface of Mars, limited to traces of dissolved moisture from the atmosphere and thin films, large quantities of ice are present on and under the surface. Small amounts of water vapor are present in the atmosphere, and liquid water may be present under the surface. In addition, a large quantity of liquid water was likely present on the surface in the distant past. Currently, ice is mostly present in polar permafrost. More than 5 million km3 of ice have been detected at or near the surface of Mars, enough to cover the planet to a depth of . Even more ice might be locked away in the deep subsurface.Carr, 2006, p. 173. The chemical signature of water vapor on Mars was first unequivocally demonstrated in 1963 by spectroscopy using an Earth-based telescope. In 2008 and 2013, ice was detected in soil samples taken by the Phoenix lander and ''Curiosity'' rover. In 2018, radar findings suggested the pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmosphere Of Mars
The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars. It is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%), molecular nitrogen (2.85%), and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and noble gases. The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner and colder than Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's having a max density 20 g/m3 (about 2% of Earth’s value) with a temperature generally below zero down to –60 °C. The average Atmospheric pressure, surface pressure is about which is 0.6% of the Earth's value. The currently thin Martian atmosphere prohibits the existence of liquid water on the surface of Mars, but many studies suggest that the Martian atmosphere was much thicker in the past. The higher density during spring and fall is reduced by 25% during the winter when carbon dioxide partly freezes at the pole caps. The highest atmospheric density on Mars is equal to the density found above the Earth's surface and is ≈0.020 kg/m3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beagle 2
The ''Beagle 2'' was an inoperative British Mars lander that was transported by the European Space Agency's 2003 ''Mars Express'' mission. It was intended to conduct an astrobiology mission that would have looked for evidence of past life on Mars. The spacecraft was successfully deployed from the ''Mars Express'' on 19 December 2003 and was scheduled to land on the surface of Mars on 25 December. ESA, however, received no communication from the lander at its expected landing time on Mars, and declared the mission lost in February 2004 after numerous attempts to contact the spacecraft were made. The ''Beagle 2'' fate remained a mystery until January 2015, when it was located on the surface of Mars in a series of images from NASA's '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' HiRISE camera. The images showed it landed safely but two of its four solar panels failed to deploy, blocking the spacecraft's communications antenna. The ''Beagle 2'' is named after , the ship that took the naturalis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visual Monitoring Camera
The Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC), also known as the Video Monitoring Camera and Mars Webcam, is a small camera mounted on ''Mars Express'' spacecraft. It is operated by the Mars Express Flight Control Team at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany. Originally, VMC was a technical camera to monitor the separation of the Beagle 2 lander, but after a few years, it was repurposed into Mars Webcam, streaming its data to the web and even being used for science. Starting in 2007, the VMC was used for the Mars Webcam project, where it takes global views of Mars at a high cadence and they are posted online. The VMC is a camera-on-chip design, using the IRIS-1 system. Originally used as engineering monitoring camera for the ''Beagle 2'' lander, it has a wide 40° field of view and limited imaging controls and it has no focus mechanism. In 2016, it was used for professional science in addition to its roles as a technical monitoring camera and public outreach. History The camera was included on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MARSIS
MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) is a low frequency, pulse-limited radar sounder and altimeter developed by the University of Rome La Sapienza and Alenia Spazio (today Thales Alenia Space Italy). The Italian MARSIS instrument, which is operated by the European Space Agency, is operational and orbits Mars as an instrument for the ESA's ''Mars Express'' exploration mission. The MARSIS Principal Investigator is Giovanni Picardi from the University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy. It features ground-penetrating radar capabilities, which uses synthetic aperture technique and a secondary receiving antenna to isolate subsurface reflections. MARSIS identified buried basins on Mars. MARSIS was funded by ASI (Italy) and NASA (USA). The processor runs the real-time operating system EONIC Virtuoso. Deployment On May 4, 2005, ''Mars Express'' deployed the first of its two 20-metre-long radar booms for the MARSIS experiment. At first the boom didn't lock f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmospheric pressure is a few thousandths of Earth's, atmospheric temperature ranges from and cosmic radiation is high. Mars retains some water, in the ground as well as thinly in the atmosphere, forming cirrus clouds, frost, larger polar regions of permafrost and ice caps (with seasonal snow), but no liquid surface water. Its surface gravity is roughly a third of Earth's or double that of the Moon. It is half as wide as Earth or twice the Moon, with a diameter of , and has a surface area the size of all the dry land of Earth. Fine dust is prevalent across the surface and the atmosphere, being picked up and spread at the low Martian gravity even by the weak wind of the tenuous atmosphere. The terrain of Mars roughly follows a north-south ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timekeeping On Mars
Though no standard exists, numerous calendars and other timekeeping approaches have been proposed for the planet Mars. The most commonly seen in the scientific literature denotes the time of year as the number of degrees on its orbit from the northward equinox, and increasingly there is use of numbering the Martian years beginning at the equinox that occurred April 11, 1955.). Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth. Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth. Mars's orbital eccentricity is considerably larger, which causes its seasons to vary significantly in length. A sol, or Martian day, is not that different from an Earth day: less than an hour longer. However, a Mars year is almost twice as long as an Earth year. Sols The average length of a Martian sidereal day is (88,642.663 seconds based on SI units), and the length of its solar day is (88,775.244 seconds). The corresponding values for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Resolution Stereo Camera
High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) is a camera experiment on ''Mars Express''.DLR – HRSC on Mars Express A version for called HRSC-AX was also developed, as was a version for . It has four main parts: camera head, super resolution channel, instrument frame, and digital unit. At an altitude of 250 km from , SRC can produce images with a resolution of 2.3 |
Airy Mean Time
Though no standard exists, numerous calendars and other timekeeping approaches have been proposed for the planet Mars. The most commonly seen in the scientific literature denotes the time of year as the number of degrees on its orbit from the northward equinox, and increasingly there is use of numbering the Martian years beginning at the equinox that occurred April 11, 1955.). Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth. Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth. Mars's orbital eccentricity is considerably larger, which causes its seasons to vary significantly in length. A sol, or Martian day, is not that different from an Earth day: less than an hour longer. However, a Mars year is almost twice as long as an Earth year. Sols The average length of a Martian sidereal day is (88,642.663 seconds based on SI units), and the length of its solar day is (88,775.244 seconds). The corresponding valu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectrometers
A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the spectral components are somehow mixed. In visible light a spectrometer can separate white light and measure individual narrow bands of color, called a spectrum. A mass spectrometer measures the spectrum of the masses of the atoms or molecules present in a gas. The first spectrometers were used to split light into an array of separate colors. Spectrometers were History_of_spectroscopy, developed in early studies of physics, astronomy, and chemistry. The capability of spectroscopy to determine Analytical_chemistry#Spectroscopy, chemical composition drove its advancement and continues to be one of its primary uses. Spectrometers are used in Astronomical spectroscopy, astronomy to analyze the chemical composition of Astronomical_spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather satellite, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, Planetary science, planetary exploration, and Space transport, transportation of Human spaceflight, humans and cargo spacecraft, cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket). On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface without having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full Geocentric orbit, Earth orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from start or on orbit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmospheric Circulation
Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of Atmosphere of Earth, air and together with ocean circulation is the means by which thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth. The Earth's atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but the large-scale structure of its circulation remains fairly constant. The smaller-scale weather systems – middle latitudes, mid-latitude low-pressure area, depressions, or tropical convective cells – occur chaotically, and long-range weather predictions of those cannot be made beyond ten days in practice, or a month in theory (see chaos theory and the butterfly effect). The Earth's weather is a consequence of its illumination by the Sun and the laws of thermodynamics. The atmospheric circulation can be viewed as a heat engine driven by the Sun's energy and whose heat sink, energy sink, ultimately, is the blackness of space. The work produced by that engine causes the motion of the masses of air, and in that process ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
