Mars Observer: The Next Mars Mission
- Creators
- Albee, Arden L.
- Palluconi, Frank D.
Abstract
The next mission to Mars, called Mars Observer, will be launched in September 1992. After the capture of the spacecraft by the planet and the adjustment into a low, Sun-synchronous, polar-mapping orbit in late 1993, observations will continue for a Mars year (687 days). The scientific mission centers around global geoscience and climatology observations of the Mars atmosphere, surface, and interior. The seven experiments carried by the spacecraft involve gamma-ray spectroscopy, magnetometry, surface and atmospheric imaging, atmospheric sounding, laser altimetry, gravity mapping, and thermal emission spectroscopy. All experiments contain microprocessors, which will be controlled remotely from the investigator's home institution. The long planned period of continuous 24 hi day observation promises a rich harvest of global and seasonal information. Mars Observer stands between the initial exploration of Mars and the more intensive explorations,. possibly involving human beings, that are only now being planned.
Additional Information
© 1991 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. Received Dec. 11, 1989; revision received Oct. 2, 1990; accepted for publication March 30, 1991. The U.S. Government has a royalty-free license to exercise all rights under the copyright claimed herein for Governmental purposes. All other rights are reserved by the copyright owner. This research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, under contract with NASA. The authors wish to thank members of the Mars Observer Project Science Group for providing experiment descriptions used in the preparation of this paper.Attached Files
Published - Albee_1991p498.pdf
Files
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:fb259141aa427aa10955333438b8a404
|
320.5 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 44925
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140414-113245594
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2014-04-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences