Mars Orbiting Plasma Surveyor (MOPS)

摘要: Mars Orbiting Plasma Surveyor (MOPS) is a microsatellite mission focused on studies of the near -Mars environment and planet - solar wind interaction. The recent findings by ESA Express further highlighted complexity processes taking place at resulting from interaction that strongly affect planet's atmosphere. However, despite many previous Martian missions carrying different types space plasma experiments, comprehensive investigation including simultaneous measurements particles, fields, waves has never been performed. We consider spinning spacecraft wet mass 76.1 kg with 9.7 payload, which can “hitchhike” another platform until orbit insertion, then be released into suitable orbit. design based experience gained in very successful Swedish missions, Viking, Freja, Astrid-1, Astrid-2. In present design, MOPS equipped its own 1m high gain antenna for direct communication Earth. payload includes wave experiment wire booms, magnetometer rigid boom, Langmuir probes, electron ion energy spectrometers an analyzer. An energetic neutral atom imager UV photometer may complete core payload. One proposed scenarios piggy backing Russian Phobos Grunt to launched 2011.