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Geological history of the Atira Mons large shield volcano, Beta Regio, venus. Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 C.H.G. Braga, E.G. Antropova, R.E. Ernst, H. El Bilali, J.W. Head, K.L. Buchan
Atira Mons is a large (∼300,000 km) low-relief (1.8 km) shield volcano, with individual flows extending up to ∼700 km from the central caldera. It is located about 3000 km NW from the major plume center Beta Regio. Detailed mapping of the flows (at 1:500,000 scale, 10x more detailed than previous mapping) has identified fifty-three flow units which are grouped into eleven packages. Flow units are distinguished
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Applying machine learning to a nonlinear spectral mixing model for mapping lunar soils composition using CHANDRAYAAN-1 M3 data Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Viktor Korokhin, Yehor Surkov, Urs Mall, Vadym Kaydash, Sergey Velichko, Yuri Velikodsky, Oksana Shalygina
We present a newly developed method which combines the nonlinear spectral mixing model of Shkuratov et al. (1999) with a machine learning algorithm to map the lunar regolith composition using spectral data. The new method performs orders of magnitude faster than the traditionally used numerical optimization approaches, allowing the mapping of regolith properties (including mineralogical composition
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In situ plasma and neutral gas observation time windows during a comet flyby: Application to the Comet Interceptor mission Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 J. De Keyser, N.J.T. Edberg, P. Henri, H.-U. Auster, M. Galand, M. Rubin, H. Nilsson, J. Soucek, N. André, V. Della Corte, H. Rothkaehl, R. Funase, S. Kasahara, C. Corral Van Damme
A comet flyby, like the one planned for ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission, places stringent requirements on spacecraft resources. To plan the time line of in situ plasma and neutral gas observations during the flyby, the size of the comet magnetosphere and neutral coma must be estimated well. For given solar irradiance and solar wind conditions, comet composition, and neutral gas expansion speed, the
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Possible influence the composition of martian surface on visibility the spectral features of atmospheric trace gases in mid-infrared spectra - The results of simulations Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-08 Maria I. Błęcka
The paper focuses on influence the optical features of minerals of the surface of Mars on remotely detected gaseous components of the Martian atmosphere, when the spectrometer receives a combined signal from the Martian soil and atmosphere. Our considerations concern above all the detectability of methane, but the problem may also apply to other trace gases.
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Near-Earth asteroids of cometary origin associated with the Virginid complex Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 G.I. Kokhirova, A.I. Zhonmuhammadi, U.H. Khamroev, M.N. Latipov, T.J. Jopek
The Virginid meteoroid streams produce a series of meteor showers active annually during February–May. A certain parent comet is not found but a related association of some showers with near-Earth asteroids was previously established and a cometary origin of these asteroids was suggested. We performed a new search for NEAs belonging to the Virginid asteroid–meteoroid complex. On the base of calculation
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Europa’s structural conditions for the existence of subsurface ocean and the absence of metallic core-driven magnetic field Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Jun Kimura
During the Galileo spacecraft’s flyby of Europa, magnetic field measurements detected an inductive signal due to the response of Europa’s interior conductors to temporal fluctuations in the Jovian magnetic field. In contrast, no signatures of intrinsic magnetic field originating from the dynamo motion in the metallic core were acquired. These measurements suggest that a global sub-surface ocean containing
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Lunar simulant behaviour in molten fluoride salt for ISRU applications Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-04 M. Maes, M. Gibilaro, P. Chamelot, C. Chiron, S. Chevrel, P. Pinet, L. Massot, J.J. Favier
This study investigated the behaviour of a lunar mare crystalline analog dissolved in molten LiF–NaF at 800 °C for the production of metals as a part of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) research. Molten fluorides have the capability to dissolve metallic oxides, and the Hall-Héroult process uses this kind of media to produce Al from AlO.The first step was to compare the individual solubility of the
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A comprehensive semigray climate model Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-03-01 Barton Paul Levenson
A climate model is developed for Earth climate history simulations or snapshots of possible conditions on Earthlike exoplanets. It includes estimates for shortwave and longwave optical thickness based on data from Venus, Earth, and Mars; expressions for atmospheric shortwave absorption and surface convective heat loss; climate feedbacks due to water vapor, ice-albedo, clouds, and lapse rate; and a
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Seasonal variation in atmospheric optical depth (AOD) and thermal inertia (TI) inter-relationship over Martian Gale crater Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Farzana Shaheen, Mili Ghosh Nee Lala, A.P. Krishna, Swagata Payra
Investigating the relationship between thermal inertia (TI) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) is significant in giving insights into the seasonality of dust deposition and lifting phenomenon. The present study focuses on establishing a relationship of AOD with TI and different particle sizes over different Martian seasons. Two different Martian landforms (exposed rock and sand dunes) have been used to
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An insight into India's Moon mission – Chandrayan-3: The first nation to land on the southernmost polar region of the Moon Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Nand Jee Kanu, Eva Gupta, Girish C. Verma
With the mission's completion, India became only the fourth nation in history to successfully perform a soft landing on the Moon and the first nation to land a spacecraft close to the lunar south pole. The purpose of the article is to present a comprehensive review of the Chandrayaan-3 mission (a sequel operation to Chandrayaan-2) to demonstrate complete capabilities in secure lunar landing and exploration
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Galactic cosmic rays at 0.7 A.U. with Venus Express housekeeping data Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-26 Thomas Rimbot, Olivier Witasse, Marco Pinto, Elise Wright Knutsen, Beatriz Sánchez-Cano, Simon Wood, Elena Tremolizzo, Willi Exner
We apply a previously developed procedure to characterize galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) at 0.7 A.U. with engineering data coming from the Venus Express mission. The engineering parameters are the Error Detection and Correction EDAC cumulative counters, used for detection and correction of memory errors induced by highly energetic particles. It has already been demonstrated that the slope of this counter
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Feasibility of high-spatial-resolution nighttime near-IR imaging of Venus’ surface from a platform just below the clouds: A radiative transfer study accounting for the potential of haze Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-06 Anthony B. Davis, Kevin H. Baines, Brian M. Sutin, James A. Cutts, Leonard I. Dorsky, Paul K. Byrne
We use a customized radiative transfer model to show that sharp (10 m resolution) images of the Venus surface can be achieved at night in spectral windows free of CO absorption found between 1.0 and using a camera at 47 km altitude, just below the planet’s optically thick clouds. This is in spite of the Rayleigh scattering by the dense but still semi-transparent lower atmosphere, and the potential
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A study of an interstellar object explorer (IOE) mission Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-02-05 S. Alan Stern, Silvia Protopapa, Matthew Freeman, Joel Wm. Parker, Mark Tapley, Darryl Z. Seligman, Caden Andersson
The first discoveries of Interstellar Objects (ISOs), i.e., small bodies moving through our Solar System on high-speed hyperbolic orbits, occurred in 2017 and 2019, decades after ISOs were first predicted. The scientific value of ISOs is high, as they represent samples, most likely planetesimals, from other solar systems. A significant increase in the rate of ISO discoveries is expected in the late
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Addendum to “Description, accessibility and usage of SOIR/Venus Express atmospheric profiles of Venus distributed in VESPA (Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access)” Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-30 L. Trompet, Y. Geunes, T. Ooms, A. Mahieux, V. Wilquet, S. Chamberlain, S. Robert, I.R. Thomas, S. Erard, B. Cecconi, P. Le Sidaner, A.C. Vandaele
Abstract not available
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Structural study of graben within the Margaritifer Terra region of Mars Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Supratik Basu, Ashmita Dasgupta, Abhik Kundu, Dipayan Dasgupta
The surface of Mars preserves a variety of structural and geomorphic features such as wrinkle ridges, graben, lobate scarps, impact basins, paleochannels etc., which owe their origin to endogenic processes of deformation as well as meteorite impacts. Graben, which form in extensional stress regimes, are one of the most common structural features identified on these planetary bodies. Many graben are
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ELSSIE: A compact stereo spectral imager for planetary surface morphology and composition Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-22 Scott L. Murchie, Frank P. Seelos, Bethany L. Ehlmann, John D. Boldt, Lawrence E. Brown, Jacob M. Greenberg, Karl A. Hibbitts, W. Jeffrey Lees, David M. Linko, Joseph J. Linden, Graham P. Murphy, Jorge I. Núñez, Katherine L. Rorschach, Calley L. Tinsman, Frank Winterling
Here we describe the design, prototyping, testing, and simulations that were conducted to demonstrate the technology for a concept of the next generation landed planetary spectral imager, the Europa Lander Stereo Spectral Imaging Experiment (ELSSIE). The concept was developed originally for a Europa Lander mission, but the design is applicable, with simplifications, to any ocean world of the outer
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Describing the fragment mass distribution in meteorite showers Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-20 I.G. Brykina, L.A. Egorova
The mass distribution of fragments is an important characteristic that often needs to be defined for forward modelling the interaction of disrupted meteoroids and asteroids with the atmosphere, and which can be inferred to some extent by the distribution of meteorites that fell to the ground. In previous studies, we derived a formula for the mass distribution of fragments of a disrupted body assuming
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Surface morphology inside the PSR area of lunar polar crater Shoemaker in comparison with that of the sunlit areas Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 A.T. Basilevsky, Yuan Li
Our study is based on a photogeological analysis of the hill-shade images produced from the LOLA digital terrain models and on a stereometric analysis of LROC NAC images. Our results demonstrate that surface morphology of the permanently shadowed floor of crater Shoemaker is nearly identical to that of the regularly illuminated mare surface at the Lunokhod-2 working area and the surface of the highland
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A study of very high resolution visible spectra of Titan: Line characterisation in visible CH4 bands and the search for C3 Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-08 Rafael Rianço-Silva, Pedro Machado, Zita Martins, Emmanuel Lellouch, Jean-Christophe Loison, Michel Dobrijevic, João A. Dias, José Ribeiro
The atmosphere of Titan is a unique natural laboratory for the study of atmospheric evolution and photochemistry akin to that of the primitive Earth, with a wide array of complex molecules discovered through infrared and sub-mm spectroscopy. Here, we explore high resolution visible spectra of Titan (obtained with VLT-UVES) and retrieve an empirical high resolution list of methane absorption features
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Chondrules from the ordinary chondrite Itawa Bhopji (L3-5): Noble gases and nitrogen Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Ramakant R. Mahajan
Noble gases and nitrogen compositions are investigated in chondrules of Itawa Bhopji (L3-5) chondrite. Single chondrule and bunch of chondrules were analysed in this work. Isotopic ratios of noble gases in chondrules indicate mixture of Q-HL-SW and cosmogenic. The cosmic ray exposure age of the chondrules using 21Ne are 30.0 ± 2.3 and 25.9 ± 2.5 Ma. No excess cosmic ray exposure (CRE) age observed
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About the magnetic barrier of Venus Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-27 N.V. Erkaev
The magnetized supersonic solar wind, when flowing around planets, forms a magnetic barrier near the streamlined surface. The main feature of the magnetic barrier is that the magnetic pressure prevails over the plasma pressure. The Hall-MHD model is used to simulate the magnetic barrier in the case of solar wind flow around the atmosphere of Venus. The obtained numerical results are compared with an
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Character and spatial distribution of mineralogy at the lunar south polar region Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-28 Wenwen Wang, Qi Jin, Xuejiao Chen, Hengyue Jiao, Wei Cai, Yu Lu, Tianyi Xu, Yunzhao Wu
The lunar south polar region, encompassing part of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, stands out as one of the most intriguing areas for future lunar exploration endeavors. Using the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data, we conducted a comprehensive investigation into the characteristics and distribution of minerals within the lunar south polar region, spanning from 80°S to the south pole. The cartographic
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Fraunhofer line-based wavelength-calibration method without calibration targets for planetary lander instruments Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-28 Shoki Mori, Yuichiro Cho, Haruhisa Tabata, Koki Yumoto, Ute Böttger, Maximilian Buder, Enrico Dietz, Till Hagelschuer, Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers, Shingo Kameda, Emanuel Kopp, Olga Prieto-Ballesteros, Fernando Rull, Conor Ryan, Susanne Schröder, Tomohiro Usui, Seiji Sugita
High-accuracy wavelength calibration is critical for qualitative and quantitative spectroscopic measurements. Many spectrometers employed in planetary-exploration missions have onboard calibration sources, including standard lamps and calibration targets. However, such calibration sources are not always available because planetary missions, particularly landing missions, usually have limitations in
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Lunar spinels in the Aristarchus crater and cobra head Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-19 Yehor Surkov, Yuriy Shkuratov, Vadym Kaydash, Gorden Videen, Urs Mall, Sergey Velichko
On the lunar surface we identify and map Mg-spinel-bearing deposits on the southern section of the Aristarchus Plateau, including the Aristarchus and Herodotus craters and the Cobra Head using the color rations C (950-750 nm) and C (2650/1550 nm). The main concentrations of spinel-bearing material are located on the peak and floor of the Aristarchus crater, with some minor deposits also detected on
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Measuring the surface abundance of iron and nickel on the asteroid (16) Psyche in the presence of large solar particle events Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-23 Morgan Burks, Stephan Friedrich, John Goldsten, Lena Heffern, Nathan Hines, Geon-Bo Kim, David J. Lawrence, Vladimir Mozin, Patrick Peplowski
This work investigates a novel signature for measuring the Ni/Fe ratio on the asteroid (16) Psyche that is robust against interference from large Solar Particle Events. NASA's Psyche mission launched on October 13th, 2023, and is headed to investigate this M-type asteroid. A primary science requirement for the Psyche gamma-ray spectrometer is to measure the absolute surface abundance of Ni and Fe.
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Interaction of global electron content with the Sun and solar wind during intense geomagnetic storms Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 T.L. Gulyaeva
Assessment of solar and solar wind parameters driving the ionosphere model is essential for prediction of the ionospheric weather. In the present paper impact of the different solar, interplanetary and geomagnetic parameters on the global electron content (GEC) during intense space weather storms is investigated. Hourly GEC values are calculated from JPL global maps of total electron content GIM-TEC
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Planar spacecraft trajectories in the Didymos–Dimorphos binary asteroid system Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-11 G. Voyatzis, D. Karydis, I. Gkolias, M. Gaitanas, K. Tsiganis
The dynamics of a spacecraft in the vicinity of the Didymos and Dimorphos binary system is studied, with specific emphasis on the bounded orbits that exist in such a perturbed gravitational environment. The binary environment is approximated with gradually increasing fidelity, starting with a model that simulates Didymos with an oblate spheroid and Dimorphos with a triaxial ellipsoid. Within these
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Asteroid regolith strength: Role of fine-fractions Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-13 Christopher Cox, Julie Brisset, Aracelis Partida, Alexander Madison, Olivia Bitcon
Most smaller asteroids (<1 km diameter) are granular material loosely bound together primarily by self-gravity known as rubble piles. In an effort to better understand the evolution of rubble-pile asteroids, we performed bulk measurements using granular simulant to study the effects of the presence of fine grains on the strength of coarse grains. Our laboratory samples consisted of fine–coarse mixtures
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Age estimation and boulder population analysis of the West crater at Apollo 11 landing site using Orbiter High Resolution Camera on board Chandrayaan-2 mission Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-10 Rohit Nagori, Aditya K. Dagar, R.P. Rajasekhar
Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) on-board Chandrayaan-2 had acquired a high-resolution image (∼0.26 m) covering Apollo 11 landing site, showing the Lander Module (LM) along with other small-scale features, such as boulders, etc. In the east of Apollo 11 LM lies the West crater, which has a rich population of boulders spread around it. We studied this boulder distribution around the West crater
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Orbital evolution and possible parent asteroids of 40 instrumentally observed meteorites Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-08 Filip Hlobik, Juraj Tóth
We present the orbital evolution of 40 meteorites with known heliocentric orbits, both nominal and their clones as well. The goal of our work was to determine the stability of their orbits and to find possible connections with known near-Earth asteroids. Stability along with a probability of a random association were used to select probable candidates. We have found stable behaviour of orbits for 21
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The Luna structure, India: A probable impact crater formed by an iron bolide Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-12-06 K.S. Sajinkumar, S. James, G.K. Indu, Saranya R. Chandran, Devika Padmakumar, J. Aswathi, S. Keerthy, M.N. Praveen, N. Sorcar, J.K. Tomson, Anil Chavan, Subhash Bhandari, M. Satyanarayanan, R. Bhushan, A. Dabhi, Y. Anilkumar
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Pressure sensor for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 Iina Jaakonaho, Maria Hieta, Maria Genzer, Jouni Polkko, Terhi Mäkinen, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, Ricardo Hueso, Teresa del Río-Gaztelurrutia, Ari-Matti Harri, Harri Haukka, Manuel de la Torre Juárez, José Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi
The Perseverance rover of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission carries a pressure sensor (PS) provided by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The sensor belongs to the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA), a set of environmental sensors designed to characterize the near-surface atmospheric conditions. MEDA PS is based on the same Vaisala sensor and measurement technology as the pressure sensor of
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Differential aperture photometry and digital coronagraphy with PRAIA Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-23 M. Assafin
PRAIA – Package for the Reduction of Astronomical Images Automatically – is a suite of photometric and astrometric tasks designed to cope with huge amounts of heterogeneous observations with fast processing, no human intervention, minimum parametrization and yet maximum possible accuracy and precision. It is the main tool used to analyse astronomical observations by an international collaboration involving
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The unique floor of juling crater on ceres Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-19 J. Hernandez, A. Nathues, H. Hiesinger, R. Sarkar, M. Hoffmann, W. Goetz, G. Thangjam
Results of NASA's Dawn mission indicate that Ceres, the biggest object in the main asteroid belt, may be geologically active because it shows changes in its morphology that might have happened in geologically recent times. Juling is a ∼2.5 Ma old, 20-km diameter impact crater on this dwarf planet, which has an extensive ejecta blanket of spectrally bright bluish material and water ice exposures on
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Observations and study of the orbital dynamics of some near-Sun asteroids Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 T. Yu Galushina, O.N. Letner, A.V. Shein, E.S. Bakanas, P.A. Levkina
The paper presents the results of positional observations of nine near-Sun asteroids with the Zeiss-2000 telescope at the Center for Collective Use “Terskol Observatory” during 2020–2023. It demonstrates that, under favorable weather conditions, it is possible to obtain observations of asteroids with observed magnitudes up to 22. Particular attention is paid to the objects (399457) 2002 PD43 and 2008
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Photogrammetric 3D reconstruction of Apollo 17 Station 6: From boulders to lunar rock samples integrated into virtual reality Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 S. Le Mouélic, M. Guenneguez, H.H. Schmitt, L. Macquet, N. Mangold, G. Caravaca, B. Seignovert, E. Le Menn, L. Lenta
Apollo 17 astronauts spent three days exploring the Taurus Littrow Valley on the Moon in 1972. During their third Extravehicular Activity, they spent more than 1 h at Station 6, a geologic waypoint consisting of three big and two small fragments of a boulder that rolled down the North massif. We have used all the available scanned digital Apollo photos taken by the astronauts at this Station 6 to compute
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Characterizing phase transitions for titan's surface molecules: Implications for Dragonfly Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Ishaan Madan, Melissa G. Trainer, Geoffrey C. Collins, Kendra K. Farnsworth
The potential commonality of organic synthesis and prebiotic processes on the surface of Titan and primitive Earth makes Saturn's largest moon an indispensable location to seek answers for the origins of life on Earth and elsewhere. NASA's New Frontiers Mission, Dragonfly, is set to arrive on Titan's surface in the mid-2030s. Two of the main scientific goals of the Dragonfly mission are to identify
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Deep machine learning for meteor monitoring: Advances with transfer learning and gradient-weighted class activation mapping Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-11-01 Eloy Peña-Asensio, Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez, Pau Grèbol-Tomàs, David Regordosa-Avellana, Albert Rimola
In recent decades, the use of optical detection systems for meteor studies has increased dramatically, resulting in huge amounts of data being analyzed. Automated meteor detection tools are essential for studying the continuous meteoroid incoming flux, recovering fresh meteorites, and achieving a better understanding of our Solar System. Concerning meteor detection, distinguishing false positives between
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MaQuIs—Concept for a Mars Quantum Gravity Mission Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-31 L. Wörner, B.C. Root, P. Bouyer, C. Braxmaier, D. Dirkx, J. Encarnação, E. Hauber, H. Hussmann, Ö. Karatekin, A. Koch, L. Kumanchik, F. Migliaccio, M. Reguzzoni, B. Ritter, M. Schilling, C. Schubert, C. Thieulot, W.v. Klitzing, O. Witasse
The aim of this paper is to present the concept of a dedicated gravity field mission for the planet Mars, the Mars Quantum Gravity Mission (MaQuIs). The mission is targeted at improving the data on the gravitational field of Mars, enabling studies on planetary dynamics, seasonal changes, and subsurface water reservoirs. MaQuIs follows well known mission scenarios, currently deployed for Earth, and
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Meteoroid ablation simulations with ESA’s SCARAB software Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-26 Maximilian Vovk, Detlef Koschny, Michael Frühauf, Christian Gscheidle, Urs Hugentobler, Valentin Heumann, Tobias Lips, Bent Fritsche, Maximilian Maigler, Valentina Pessina, Jiří Šilha, Juraj Tóth, Veronika Pazderová, Pavol Matlovič
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Astrometry with PRAIA Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-28 M. Assafin
PRAIA – Package for the Reduction of Astronomical Images Automatically – is a suite of astrometric and photometric tasks designed to cope with huge amounts of heterogeneous observations with fast processing, no human intervention, minimum parameterization and yet maximum possible accuracy and precision. It is the main tool used to analyse astronomical observations by an international collaboration
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The Lyrids meteor shower: A historical perspective Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-26 M.J. Martínez Usó, F.J. Marco Castillo, J.A. López Ortí
The April Lyrid meteor shower is the oldest meteor shower ever recorded continuously throughout history, dating as far back as 687 BC. Before the 20th century, historical sources only provided reports of two years of strong activity and up to nine possible additional events. Currently, the shower has low activity, but it has had significant episodes that, during the 20th century, seem to repeat at
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Physical properties and average atomic numbers of chondrules using computed tomography Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-17 Yogita Kadlag, David Haberthür, Ingo Leya, Ruslan Hlushchuk, Klaus Mezger
Micro-computed tomography is a fast and essentially non-destructive technique for studying 3D properties of solid objects. This study explores the use of a micro-CT technique to determine the physical properties and average atomic numbers of 44 chondrules from unequilibrated (petrologic type 3.00 to 3.6) ordinary, carbonaceous, and enstatite chondrites. Many chondrules deviate from a spherical geometry
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Modulation of Mars’ diurnal polar motion by atmospheric dust cycles Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Yonghong Zhou, Jianli Chen, Xianran An, Cancan Hsu, Xueqing Xu
The atmospheric dust cycle plays a crucial role in impacting the atmosphere of Mars, and may also introduce changes in angular momentum that can influence the planet's polar motion. However, the potential connections between polar motion and atmospheric dust cycles have not yet been explored. In this study, we computed atmosphere-excited polar motion and the atmospheric dust cycle index (ADCI) separately
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Exploring the internal textures and physical properties of digitate sinter in hot springs: Implications for remote sampling on Mars Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-11 Ema E. Nersezova, Michael C. Rowe, Kathleen A. Campbell, Andrew Ang, Steve Matthews, Steven W. Ruff, Ashok Meghwal, Ludmila Adam, Niamh Galligan, Thomas Loho
Hydrothermal silica deposits on the surface of Mars with textures analogous to terrestrial hot spring deposits are, arguably, one of the best potential targets in the search for evidence of life beyond Earth. Here we investigate terrestrial hot spring digitate silica structures (modern: El Tatio, Chile; Mars Pool at Rotokawa geothermal area, and Te Kopia thermal stream, New Zealand; 1.6–1.8 ka: Opal
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A novel methodology to estimate pre-atmospheric dynamical conditions of small meteoroids Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Erin C.M. Dawkins, Gunter Stober, Juan Diego Carrillo-Sánchez, Diego Janches, Robert Weryk, Jose Luis Hormaechea, Juan Sebastian Bruzzone, John M.C. Plane
Recent observations using the Wind and Ulysses spacecrafts and the Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) during the period between 2007 and 2020 indicate a total cosmic dust influx at Earth ranging from 22 to 32 tonnes per day. Much is still unclear about the formation, evolution, and propagation of this cosmic dust throughout our Solar System, as well as the transport and chemical interaction
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Analysis of the relation of hydrogen distribution and topographic roughness in the lunar south polar region Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-09 Y. Li, A.T. Basilevsky, A.B. Sanin, I.G. Mitrofanov, M.L. Litvak, L.G. Fang
Appreciable amounts of hydrogen-bearing compounds have been detected within the lunar polar regions. Estimating the effect of the presence of water ice on surface topographic roughness is important for future exploration and activities in the vicinity of the lunar pole. To investigate this issue, we analyzed the correlations between water equivalent hydrogen in the top 1-m surface layer and topographic
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Lava filling history of the herodotus crater on the aristarchus plateau: Insights from remote sensing observations Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-07 Feng Liu, Jianen Han, Junling Pei
The Aristarchus Plateau region's volcanic evolution has important implications for understanding the global history of the crustal and mantle development of the Moon. Herodotus is an Imbrian-age impact crater located on the Aristarchus Plateau, with an inclined crater floor and elevation difference of 300 m. However, the timing and emplacement scenarios by which the lava flows formed and filled the
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Hidden morphology of Shackleton Crater, lunar South Pole Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Andrey V. Mitusov, Alexander Stark, Vladislav R. Khrisanov, Jürgen Oberst
The article's goal is the detailed description of geomorphologic structures on the floor and interior walls of Shackleton Crater and a reconstruction of their formation histories. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 20 m grid was constructed for the area around the crater based on Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data. The DEM was analysed for slope steepness, Maximal Catchment Area (MCA) and
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Stress regime analysis for the transition to a stagnant-lid convection regime in the terrestrial mantle Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Masaki Yoshida
A series of numerical simulations of terrestrial mantle convection with temperature-dependent viscosity in a three-dimensional spherical geometry was performed to investigate the thermal structure of the mantle interior and the mechanical condition of the lithosphere. The common “sluggish-lid” convection regime has the thermal structure of the mantle interior with a slowly mobile lid under a moderately
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Role of 26Al and impact-generated atmosphere in the early thermal evolution, differentiation, and volatile-rich core of Mars Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-10-03 Gurpreet Kaur Bhatia
The InSight mission's high-quality seismic data and cosmochemical models have demonstrated that Mars has a volatile-rich core. It is proposed that Mars formed early, before the solar nebular gas dispersed, and/or it accreted volatile-rich material to account for its volatile-rich interior. The early accreted Mars must have gravitationally attracted proto-atmosphere from the surrounding solar nebula
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Infalling of nano-dust because of air drag on Uranus Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-22 Hua-Shan Shih, Wing-Huen Ip
Uranus and Saturn share similarities in terms of their atmospheric composition, which is primarily made up of hydrogen and helium, as well as their ring systems. Uranus has 13 known rings, which are divided into narrow main rings, dusty rings, and outer rings. Unlike Saturn’s broad ring system, Uranus’ inner narrow main rings are relatively narrow, and likely consist of dark, radiation-processed organics
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Photometry of small asteroids of different families and dynamical groups with a short rotation period Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-18 Vasilij G. Chiorny, Vasilij G. Shevchenko, Ivan G. Slyusarev, Olga I. Mikhalchenko, Yurij N. Krugly, Dagmara Oszkiewicz
We present photometric observations of 25 small asteroids from different families (Eos, Erigone, Flora, Maria, Massalia, Phocaea and Zita) and dynamical groups. We derive their synodic periods and lightcurve amplitudes, as well as V–R color indices, and absolute magnitudes. Furthermore, we revise their albedos using the determined absolute magnitudes. Three of the objects are studied for the first
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Planetary ions acceleration in a hot flow anomaly at Mars Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-13 A. Yu Shestakov, S.D. Shuvalov
Previous observation of a single hot flow anomaly (HFA) at Earth by MMS mission reported solar wind protons effective acceleration inside these structures to nearly 1 MeV under certain conditions via first-order Fermi acceleration process. Current study focuses on the analysis of a single HFA registered at Mars by MAVEN spacecraft. The event is characterized by the presence of accelerated O+ and O2+
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A lunar soil classification system for space resource utilization Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-13 Kevin M. Cannon
Lunar soils will be an important feedstock for multiple space resource utilization applications including preparing sites for infrastructure, extracting metals, and manufacturing products. On Earth, soil classification systems provide a logical way to categorize different soils and are applied in soil surveys for development projects. However, these systems and others used for soil science are not
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Estimation of the parameters of small meteoroids: A porous body model Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-07 Vladimir Efremov, Olga Popova, Dmitry Glazachev, Anna Kartashova, Anastasios Margonis, Jurgen Oberst
An ablation model is used to describe the interaction of small meteoroids with the Earth's atmosphere. In this model, the mass loss of a meteoroid is determined using the saturated vapor pressure of the assumed meteoroid substance. The meteoroid is considered in two modifications as a solid and a porous object. An automated method for estimating the parameters of meteoroids (mass, size, and density)
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Polarization dependency of transverse scattering and collisional coupling to the ambient atmosphere from meteor trails — theory and observations Planet. Space Sci. (IF 2.4) Pub Date : 2023-09-09 Gunter Stober, Robert Weryk, Diego Janches, Erin C.M. Dawkins, Florian Günzkofer, Jose Luis Hormaechea, Dimitry Pokhotelov
Quantitative analyses of transverse scatter meteors to derive physically consistent solutions of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient, electron line density, and initial trail radius have been rare. In this manuscript, we present simulations using a full-wave scatter treatment of the transverse scatter meteor echo profiles for different background collision frequencies to account for the increase in