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DREAMS of Mars: Europe's ExoMars Mission Arrives in the Middle of Dust Season
by Tomasz Nowakowski for AstroWatch
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 14, 2016


File image.

The joint ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 mission is knocking on Martian door to answer important astrobiological questions. While the mission's Schiaparelli module will focus on testing landing technologies, one of its scientific instruments will be just in the right place at the right time to investigate the planet's intense dust storms.

The ExoMars 2016 mission consists of two spacecraft: the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) that will search for evidence of methane and other trace atmospheric gases and the Schiaparelli lander - an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module. On Oct. 16, the lander will separate from TGO, entering the atmosphere for a six-minute descent, ending in landing in Meridiani Planum on Oct. 19.

While TGO will commence its science mission at the end of 2017, following a year of complex aerobraking maneuvers to circularize its orbit, Schiaparelli is expected to be on duty immediately since the re-entry into Mars' atmosphere, collecting crucial data during controlled descent and landing.

After landing, Schiaparelli will activate its Dust Characterisation, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface (DREAMS) that could provide important insights on the nature of intense dust storms occurring periodically on Mars.

"After landing we will operate the DREAMS environmental station," Jorge L. Vago, ExoMars Project Scientist at ESA, told Astrowatch.net. "One objective of DREAMS is to measure for the first time the large electric fields that get generated due to friction between dust grains in the martian atmosphere - the same happens in the Sahara on Earth."

The DREAMS station includes a set of sensors designed to measure the wind speed and direction (MetWind), humidity (DREAMS-H), pressure (DREAMS-P), atmospheric temperature close to the surface (MarsTem), the transparency of the atmosphere (Solar Irradiance Sensor, SIS), as well as atmospheric electrification (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor; MicroARES).

In general, ExoMars scientists hope that DREAMS will provide measurements of the concentration of atmospheric dust, what could yield new results regarding the role of electric forces on dust lifting, the trigger for dust storms.

Martian storms could be very powerful when Mars reaches its perihelion as the sunlight striking the planet will be 20 percent more intense than the annual average. While planet-wide dust storms on Mars are difficult to be predicted exactly, scientists forecast call for severe dusty events in late October 2016 when the Red Planet will be at its closest point to the Sun, what coincides with Schiaparelli's arrival.

"Now is the dust storm season, the time of the martian year when the atmospheric dust content is highest. We may even encounter a dust storm, which would be great for science," Vago said.

Currently, one week ahead of the landing, Schiaparelli is in excellent health. In early October, the teams uploaded the last bits of software last week, prior to the planned separation of the module from TGO. They also conducted simulations on the ground using the Avionic Test Bench (ATB) to prepare the operations group for post-Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) activities.


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Previous Report
MARSDAILY
Schiaparelli readied for Mars landing
Paris (ESA) Oct 10, 2016
This week, the commands that will govern the Schiaparelli lander's descent and touchdown on Mars were uploaded to ESA's ExoMars spacecraft, enroute to the Red Planet. The Trace Gas Orbiter has been carrying the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator since launch on 14 March. Upon arrival on 19 October, Schiaparelli will test the technology needed for Europe's 2020 rover to land, wh ... read more


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