Published in Space Science Reviews
The SuperCam instrument suite provides the Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, with a number of versatile remote-sensing techniques that can be used at long distance as well as within the robotic-arm workspace. These include laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), remote time-resolved Raman and luminescence spectroscopies, and visible and infrared ...
Published in Space Science Reviews
The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury will provide simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft, offering an unprecedented opportunity to investigate magnetospheric and exospheric particle dynamics at Mercury as well as their interactions with solar wind, solar radiation, and interplanetary dust. The particle instrument suite SERENA (Search ...
Published in Space Science Reviews
Accretion onto black holes is an efficient mechanism in converting the gas mass-energy into energetic outputs as radiation, wind and jet. Tidal disruption events, in which stars are tidally torn apart and then accreted onto supermassive black holes, offer unique opportunities of studying the accretion physics as well as the wind and jet launching p...
Published in Space Science Reviews
China launched Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully on July 23rd, 2020. The Mars Orbiter Subsurface Investigation Radar (MOSIR) is a subsurface radar sounder as a scientific instrument onboard Tianwen-1 orbiter. It is designed to study the compositions of Martian surface material, subsurface structure, and the ionosphere’s total electron content. It c...
Published in Space Science Reviews
MOXIE is a technology demonstration that addresses the Mars 2020 (Perseverance) objective of preparing for future human exploration by demonstrating In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) in the form of dissociating atmospheric CO2 into O2. The primary goals of the MOXIE project are to verify and validate the technology of Mars ISRU as a springboard f...
Published in Space Science Reviews
Optical structures located equatorward of the main auroral oval often exhibit different morphologies and dynamics than structures at higher latitudes. In some cases, questions arise regarding the formation mechanisms of these photon-emitting phenomena. New developments in space and ground-based instruments have enabled us to acquire a clearer view ...
Published in Space Science Reviews
Landing site selection is of fundamental importance for lunar landing mission and it is closely related to the scientific goals of the mission. According to the widely concerned lunar science goals and the landing site selection of the ongoing lunar missions; China has carried out the selection of landing site for a series of Chang’ E (CE) missions...
Published in Space Science Reviews
Here we discuss the current state of knowledge of terrestrial planet formation from the aspects of different planet formation models and isotopic data from 182Hf-182W, U-Pb, lithophile-siderophile elements, 48Ca/44Ca isotope samples from planetary building blocks, recent reproduction attempts from 36Ar/38Ar, 20Ne/22Ne, 36Ar/22Ne isotope ratios in V...
Published in Space Science Reviews
It is not yet entirely clear whether Mars began as a warm and wet planet that evolved towards the present-day cold and dry body or if it always was cold and dry with just some sporadic episodes of liquid water on its surface. An important clue into this question can be gained by studying the earliest evolution of the Martian atmosphere and whether ...
Published in Space Science Reviews
The comparative study of planetary systems is a unique source of new scientific insight: following the six “key science questions” of the “Planetary Exploration, Horizon 2061” long-term foresight exercise, it can reveal to us the diversity of their objects (Question 1) and of their architectures (Question 2), help us better understand their origins...
