Mars Express Preparing For Aphelion Season

MARSDAILY

Illustration of the Mars Express during an eclipse. Credit: ESA.

by Staff Writers
Paris, France (ESA) Nov 28, 2006
Mission Status:
Early June saw the celebration of 3 years in space for Mars-Express. Most of the summer has been spent on preparing for, and actually entering the power wise very challenging eclipse/aphelion season. The specially designed Survival Mode (SUMO) was tested and so far successfully used to safely sail through the longest eclipses.

Operations and archiving:
With the spacecraft being configured for the low-power/aphelion season, payload operations are suspended (except for one possible exception around end-September and radio science during solar conjunction) for some 10 weeks.

Early next year (Feb-Mar 2007) the default Mars Express ground station (New Norcia) will be used by Rosetta for the preparation and execution of its Mars flyby. With Cebreros being used by Venus Express and DSN availability uncertain, this will probably mean two months with lower science return for Mars Express.

A Mars-Express science working team and science operations working group meeting was held at ESOC 28-30 June 2006. One of the major topics discussed at the science working team meeting was the evolution of the Mars Express orbit, which is rapidly moving into a situation with pericenter passages predominantly happening in the dark. This could be changed to support a more balanced distribution of science possibilities over all instruments. A further meeting discussing the topic was held 31 August 2006 at ESOC.

Science highlights:
The latest major Mars Express discovery was made by the SPICAM team concerning the existence of very high-altitude C02 clouds in the Martian atmosphere (see related links for the web release). A spectacular set of images covering the Cydonia region, and including the famous face on Mars and its current appearance following years of geological processing, is being prepared for an immediate press release.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Mars Express
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

MARSDAILY

India Mulls Unmanned Mission To Mars By 2013

New Delhi, India (SPX) Nov 27, 2006
Indian space scientists plan to send an unmanned mission to Mars by 2013 to look for evidence of life, a news report said on Sunday. The six-to-eight-month mission, likely to be launched in the next seven years, would cost three billion rupees (67 million dollars), the Hindustan Times reported.

NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program	MOON DAILY Genesis Findings Solve Apollo Lunar Soil Mystery Indian Lunar Mission Likely To Take Off 2007 Year End China And Russia Discuss Lunar Project Escaping Gasses From Moon Expose Fresh Surface
SPACE TRAVEL Russian Space Corps Has Few Applicants Due To Low Pay NASA Completes Milestone Review Of Next Human Spacecraft System First Research Confirms That Eating Slowly Inhibits Appetite India's First Cosmonaut Ready To Go To Space Again	OUTER PLANETS Making Old Horizons New Scientist Who Found Tenth Planet Discusses The Downgrading Of Pluto New Horizons Spacecraft Snaps Approach Image of the Giant Planet Does The Atmosphere Of Pluto Go Through The Fast-Freeze
JOVIAN DREAMS Jovian Junior Red Spot Growing Stronger Exploring Europa By Way Of The Arctic Junior Spot Zips Past Great Red Spot On Jupiter Gemini Captures Close Encounter Of Two Jupiter Red Spots	VENUSIAN HEAT Saturn Joins Venus In The Vortex Club Venus Express Program Wins Popular Science Award Vesper Could Explore Earth's Fiery Twin Venus Express Marks One Year In Orbit
SATURN DAILY Ringside With Dione NASA Sees Into The Eye Of A Monster Storm On Saturn NASA Study Shows Titan And Early Earth Atmospheres Are Similar The Lone Pale Blue Dot As Seen By Cassini	TECH SPACE Leicester-Mumbai Collaboration on Space Camera Successful Completion Of AmerHis, The First Switchboard In Space China Broadcasting Satellite SinoSat-2 Fails Just 10 Days After Launch Raytheon Tech Can Help NASA Track Astronauts, Put Robots On Moon

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement