Mars Express Blog

Mars Express Blog http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/7 Mars Express is Europe’s first planetary mission. At launch, the mission consisted of an orbiter carrying seven instruments for remote sensing observations of the planet, and a lander (Beagle 2) for on-the-spot measurements of Martian rock and soil. Mars Express started science observations at the Red Planet in January 2004, and since then it has been delivering an incredible amount of scientific results. The ‘Express’ part of the name highlights the fact that the spacecraft was built more quickly than any other comparable planetary mission. In fact, it took only five years from mission approval to launch. In addition to global studies of the surface, subsurface and atmosphere of Mars with unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution, the unifying theme of the Mars Express mission from orbit is the search for water in its various states, everywhere on the planet by all its seven instruments using different techniques. danielscuka 2013-05-21T14:59:45Z Mars Express transmits first signal to be received by new ESA station http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1390 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_events/7419567666/" title="First signal received by Malargüe station by ESA_events, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7419567666_debce9db98_m.jpg" alt="First signal received by Malargüe station" width="240" height="180" align="left" /></a> Great news from the ESA ESTRACK team today! The first-ever reception of signal took place at ESA's new 35m deep space station at Malargüe, Argentina, on 14 June. There's still a lot of work to be done to have the station fully comissioned, but this is an excellent achievement and an important milestone - and the signal came from our very own Mars Express, orbiting the Red planet some 193 million km away. Roberto Maddè, the DSA-3 project manager, wrote: We did a test 'shadow tracking' of Mars Express last week on 14 June, around 22.30 UTC. The signal in L-band is shown in the picture (at left). We measured a signal/noise ratio of about 56 dBHz, which matches the levels obtained by ESA's existing 35m station at Cebreros during the same pass. Pointing still needs to be optimised (pointing correction for our test was done manually); these tests are still 'qualitative'. Some quantitative tests (less news-worthy but more useful to understand whether the station is operating within specs) are being done and look promising. Now, the teams on site are recalibrating the beam waveguide mirrors; we'll have more tests in two weeks. But we need to calibrate the pointing first. DSA-3 is set to enter regular service later this year. <a href="http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Operations/SEME9C19Y8G_0.html" target="_blank" title="DSA-3 webcam">You can see DSA-3 'live' via our webcam</a> (also below) -- Daniel <img src="http://download.esa.int/esoc/mlg/mlg.jpg" border="1" alt="MLG Webcam" hspace="2" vspace="2" width="400" height="300" align="middle" />     <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_events/7419567666/" title="First signal received by Malargüe station by ESA_events, on Flickr"></a> General ESTRACK Operations 2012-06-22T15:25:17Z danielscuka Phobos flyby 9/01 - when can we expect first images? http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1303 On Sunday, 9 January, Mars Express will make its closest approach to Phobos, with the spacecraft passing just 111 km above the moon's centre at 14:09 UT (15:09 CET). Of course, we all know that science is about a lot more than pretty pictures; but we can’t help ourselves can we? The first question any of us ask when we hear about a new flyby is, "When do we get the images?" We want to see Phobos, and we want to see it now! While closest approach takes place this coming Sunday, Olivier Witasse, ESA Project Scientist for Mars Express, explains below that all things come to those who wait. I asked him when we can expect the first image? Olivier replied: <blockquote> We will have to be patient! The whole Phobos data set will be downloaded to Earth by Tuesday, 18 January. The HRSC team will then process the data, and we can expect a release of images (including a 3D view) on Friday, 21 January. </blockquote> Why wait for nine days after the closest approach? <blockquote> The reason is that besides this Phobos event, there are other camera observations of Mars and many observations by the other Mars Express instruments. <a href="http://www.esa.int/esaMI/ESOC/SEMYVF3XQEF_0.html" target="_blank">Software plans and optimises the data downlink</a> to make sure that no instruments lose any data, and it uses the biggest data storage on board (the one for the camera) to act as a buffer when downlink capabilities are scarce. This avoids overwriting valuable data! Once the other data are safely on the ground, then Mars Express sends the camera files. </blockquote> An interesting aspect of this story is that starting on 19 January, contact with Mars Express will be much reduced for five weeks. We will even loose contact for some days due to the solar conjunction, when the Sun will block our view of Mars and Mars Express. During this period, the spacecraft will be fully autonomous but perform no observations. Luckily, the Phobos close encounter occurs more than a week before and its images will be on the ground just in time! -- Stuart Note: To help pass the time, enjoy are a pair of recent images captured in March 2010 by the HRSC. <a id="res_20044" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/7/H7948_0005_SR2.png"> <div style="text-align: center"> <img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/7/previews-med/H7948_0005_SR2.gif" border="0" alt="Close view with the Super Resolution Channel of the HRSC camera ** Caption: This close-up of the surface of Phobos was taken on 16 March 2010 at a distance from the moon's centre of 660 km, with a spatial resolution of about 6 m/pixel. The image is available in the Planetary Science Archive. Credit: ESA/ DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)." /> </div> </a>        <a id="res_20043" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/7/H7926_0011_SR2.png"> <div style="text-align: center"> <img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/7/previews-med/H7926_0011_SR2.gif" border="0" alt="Close view with the Super Resolution Channel of the HRSC camera ** Caption: This close-up of the surface of Phobos was taken on 10 March 2010 at a distance from the moon's centre of 278 km, with a spatial resolution of about 3 m/pixel. The image is available in the Planetary Science Archive. Credit: ESA/ DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)." /> </div> </a>  <div align="center"> These close-ups of the surface of Phobos were taken on 10 March 2010 at a distance from the moon's centre of 278 km, with a spatial resolution of about 3 m/pixel. The images are available in the Planetary Science Archive. Credit: ESA/ DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum). </div> <div align="center">   </div> <div align="center">   </div> General ESTRACK Science Phobos Fly-by 2011 2011-01-07T15:16:44Z stuartclark ESA's 35m deep space antenna Cebreros swings into action http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1066 A short video clip recorded 9 March 2010, 19:50 CET, showing ESA's giant 35m deep space antenna at Cebreros station (Spain) - part of the Agency's ESTRACK network - swinging into position to start a ground station pass. The weather tonight in central Spain is crystal clear and cold (below freezing) - perfect! CEB was used last week to track Mars Express during Phobos closest approach... -- Daniel <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="326" data="http://www.motionbox.com/external/hd_player/type%253Dhd%252Caffiliate_name%253Dpro%252Cvideo_uid%253D7c99dfb51913ebc5f4" id="ltVideoGoogleVideo"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.motionbox.com/external/hd_player/type%253Dhd%252Caffiliate_name%253Dpro%252Cvideo_uid%253D7c99dfb51913ebc5f4" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowScriptAcess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="quality" value="best" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="FlashVars" value="playerMode=embedded" /> </object> General ESTRACK 2010-03-09T23:25:44Z danielscuka An experiment that extends over 117.5 million kilometres! http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1009 <img src="http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/YBA/cyg-X1-mass/images/doppler.gif" alt="Johaan Christian Doppler 1803-1853" width="90" height="109" align="left" />Greetings again to all Phobos and Mars aficionados! Christian Andreas Doppler (29 November 1803 – 17 March 1853) The closest-ever flyby of Phobos to date will be dedicated to an experimental method called 'radio sounding'. The way radio sounding works is that we place the object (think a celestial body) we want to investigate close to the trajectory of a moving vehicle (think a spacecraft) equipped with a very stable and precise radio transmitter. We also need a very sensitive receiver equipped with measurement devices to record the received signal (think ground stations). The transmitter  on the moving vehicle sends out a continuous unmodulated signal (meaning no actual data will be transmitted - just an 'empty' carrier signal). The receiver receives the signal and then sends that signal to the measurement equipment, which will record the famous Doppler shift of the received signal's frequency (access more details under the 'Full story' link below) -- Hannes. As the transmitter on the moving vehicle moves past our object of interest, its velocity will be influenced by the object's gravity. This influence can be picked up by the measurement equipment on the receiving end as a minute variation in the Doppler shift as compared to an undisturbed trajectory. By calculating the expected Doppler shift and comparing this with that actually recorded, the effect due to gravity of the object on the moving vehicle can be isolated and interpreted. The resulting velocity profile lets scientists compute the 'shape' of the gravitational field of the object, which in turn yields information about the interior mass distribution of the object. Combining this information with spectrometer readings, subsurface sounding radar data and visual images will provide clues to the object's origin and formation process. The object of interest in this case is - you already guessed right - Phobos. Our moving vehicle is Mars Express - equipped with a precision transmitter - and on the receiving end we have the finest receiver that the world has to offer: NASA's mighty 70m deep space tracking station in Madrid (<a href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1006">read Daniel's previous post here about DSN stations</a>). To enhance the signal stability of the transmitter on board Mars Express, we will send an even more precise signal up to the spacecraft, which it locks on to it. To isolate other influences on the signal propagation, we will have Mars Express transmit in two different radio bands. So what we are doing with this closest-ever flyby is actually setting up an experiment that ranges across the inner Solar System and spans a whopping 117.5 million kilometres! To do that, we have to manoeuvre the spacecraft into a position close to the moon Phobos - the closer the better - and record the spacecraft's signal starting from several hours before the encounter to several hours after. This is necessary to precisely know the trajectory before and after the encounter. The first orbit manoeuvre to place Mars Express onto the correct trajectory was completed successfully a few days ago (<a href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/1000">see my earlier blog post</a>). Two days ago, I finished the final planning for the second manoeuvre to be conducted next week and my Mars Express team mates in charge of implementing these are checking everything as I write these lines. Once my colleague who is working on the mission planning computer system right now lets me have it back, I will start preparing the final plans for the actual flyby and related events. In preparation for closest approach, two proficiency tests have been scheduled for this coming Monday and Wednesday (22 & 24 February). These tests will give ground station personnel and spacecraft controllers the opportunity to rehearse the appropriate steps and settings that will have to be made to properly record the spacecraft's radio signal. We will, in effect, simulate the flyby as if it were for real using Mars Express, with the only exception being that Phobos will actually not pass by. Stay tuned as we buckle up for the second orbit manoeuvre and get in shape to unlock yet another clue to the secret of Solar System formation! -- Hannes PS: Excellent NASA article on Doppler <a href="http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/YBA/cyg-X1-mass/Doppler.html" target="_blank">http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/YBA/cyg-X1-mass/Doppler.html</a>   Phobos Fly-By 2010 ESTRACK 2010-02-19T11:40:17Z
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