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Article
Open AccessMoons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS) on Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)
The MAJIS (Moons And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer) instrument on board the ESA JUICE (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer) mission is an imaging spectrometer operating in the visible and near-infrared spectral range fro...
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Article
Space weathering record and pristine state of Ryugu samples from MicrOmega spectral analysis
The samples returned from asteroid Ryugu were collected both at its surface and at its subsurface by Hayabusa2 and can, thus, provide information on the space weathering of C-type asteroids at different depths...
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Article
Constraints on Solar System early evolution by MicrOmega analysis of Ryugu carbonates
The samples returned from a C-type asteroid (Ryugu) by the Hayabusa2 mission constitute unprecedented access to carbonaceous material never exposed to Earth’s atmosphere that may still contain phases formed in...
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Article
First compositional analysis of Ryugu samples by the MicrOmega hyperspectral microscope
The characterization of objects that have best preserved the mineralogical and molecular phases formed in the earliest stages of the Solar System evolution is key to understanding the processes that led to the...
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Chapter
MASCOT—A Mobile Lander On-board the Hayabusa2 Spacecraft—Operations on Ryugu
MASCOT (‘Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout’) is a 10 kg mobile surface science package part of JAXA’s Hayabusa2 sample return mission. The mission was launched in December 2014 from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan...
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Article
Thermally altered subsurface material of asteroid (162173) Ryugu
Analyses of meteorites and theoretical models indicate that some carbonaceous near-Earth asteroids may have been thermally altered due to radiative heating during close approaches to the Sun1–3. However, the lack...
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Article
Open AccessThe MicrOmega Investigation Onboard Hayabusa2
MicrOmega is a near-IR hyperspectral microscope designed to characterize in situ the texture and composition of the surface materials of the Hayabusa2 target asteroid. MicrOmega is implemented within the MASCOT l...
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Article
The Camera of the MASCOT Asteroid Lander on Board Hayabusa 2
The MASCOT Camera (MasCam) is part of the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) lander’s science payload. MASCOT has been launched to asteroid (162173) Ryugu onboard JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return m...
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Article
Exposed water ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Using infrared wavelengths, micrometre-sized water-ice grains have been identified on the nucleus (which is mostly coated in a dark material) of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
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Microscope spectrometer for the Phobos-Grunt mission
Microscopy and spectroscopy are important methods of studies. The use of a microscope onboard a spacecraft is connected with the fact that the closer approach to the objects and the switch to the in situ measu...
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Article
Identification of planetary wave patterns associated with ice seasonal sublimation/condensation dynamics in the polar regions of mars, based on IR map** spectrometer OMEGA onboard Mars Express
Channel C of the orbital hyperspectrometer OMEGA onboard Mars Express spacecraft has delivered data on the distribution and seasonal variability of water ice spectral features at 1.25, 1.5, 2.0 μm, based on which...
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Article
A study of the bound water, water ice, and frost distribution over the Martian surface: Treatment and correcting of the data of observations with the OMEGA spectrometer onboard Mars Express
The results of the analysis of the spectral observations of Mars carried out with the OMEGA spectrometer onboard the Mars Express spacecraft are presented. The data from one of the spectrometer’s channels working...
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Article
The retrieval of altitude profiles of the Martian aerosol microphysical characteristics from the limb measurements of the Mars Express OMEGA spectrometer
Parameterization of the spectral dependence of the optical characteristics of Martian aerosols has been proposed for processing the results of measurements of outgoing radiation. A method for retrieving the al...
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Article
Hydrated silicate minerals on Mars observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM instrument
The Mars Phoenix mission has sent back images of what — before it melted away — looked like water ice. Meanwhile our knowledge of the planet's distant watery past is being refined by the instruments on-board M...
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Article
A dynamic upper atmosphere of Venus as revealed by VIRTIS on Venus Express
ESA's Venus Express probe has been in orbit since April 2006. Eight research papers in this issue present new results from the mission, covering the atmosphere, polar features, interactions with the solar wind...
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Article
South-polar features on Venus similar to those near the north pole
ESA's Venus Express probe has been in orbit since April 2006. Eight research papers in this issue present new results from the mission, covering the atmosphere, polar features, interactions with the solar wind...
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Article
Surface composition of Hyperion
Saturn's moon Hyperion, an irregular shaped object in a tumbling orbit, looks odd: the Cassini flyby of September 2005 revealed a unique spongy surface. Two papers this week present the initial Cassini results...
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Article
CIVA
CIVA (Comet Infrared and Visible Analyser) is an integrated set of imaging instruments, designed to characterize the 360∘ panorama (CIVA-P) as seen from the Rosetta Lander Philae, and to study surface and subsurf...
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Article
The Rosetta Lander (“Philae”) Investigations
The paper describes the Rosetta Lander named Philae and introduces its complement of scientific instruments. Philae was launched aboard the European Space Agency Rosetta spacecraft on 02 March 2004 and is expe...
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Article
Virtis: An Imaging Spectrometer for the Rosetta Mission
The VIRTIS (Visual IR Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) experiment has been one of the most successful experiments built in Europe for Planetary Exploration. VIRTIS, developed in cooperation among Italy, France a...
