Related papers: Mars2020 and Mars Sample Return
ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to maximise observing opportunities. We review…
We investigate the feasibility of a spacecraft mission to conduct a flyby of 3I/ATLAS, the third macroscopic interstellar object discovered on July 1 2025, as it traverses the Solar System. There are both ready-to-launch spacecraft…
Ancient hydrology is recorded by sedimentary rocks on Mars. The most voluminous sedimentary rocks that formed during Mars' Hesperian period are sulfate-rich rocks, explored by the $Opportunity$ rover from 2004-2012 and soon to be…
Mercury is the target of two space missions: MESSENGER (NASA) which orbit insertion is planned for March 2011, and ESA/JAXA BepiColombo, that should be launched in 2014. Their instruments will observe the surface of the planet with a high…
The Mars Express (MEX) mission has been successfully operated around Mars since 2004. Among many results, MEX has provided some of the most accurate astrometric data of the two Mars moons, Phobos and Deimos. In this work we present new…
Throughout its mission, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has often rolled about its along-track axis by up to 28{\deg} to partially compensate for the suboptimal location of the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) antenna along an edge of the…
Endurance is a mission concept to explore and ultimately return samples from the Moon's largest and oldest impact basin, South Pole-Aitken (SPA). SPA holds the answers to many outstanding planetary science questions, including the earliest…
Reconciling the geology of Mars with models of atmospheric evolution remains a major challenge. Martian geology is characterized by past evidence for episodic surface liquid water, and geochemistry indicating a slow and intermittent…
The present article proposes an approach to analyze the photometric properties of the surface materials from multi-angle observations acquired by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on-board the Mars…
The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity, has been measuring the energetic charged and neutral particles and the radiation dose rate on the surface of Mars since the landing of the…
Remote sample recovery is a rapidly evolving application of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) for planetary sciences and space exploration. Development of cyber-physical systems (CPS) for autonomous deployment and recovery of sensor…
On 2032 December 22 the 60 m diameter asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 4% chance of impacting the Moon. Such an impact would release 6.5 MT TNT equivalent energy and produce a ~1 km diameter crater. We estimate that up to 10^8 kg of lunar material…
In the present work, NIR, LIBS, Raman and XRD techniques have been complementarily used to carry out a comprehensive characterization of a terrestrial analogue selected from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure (CBIS). The obtained data…
The first in-situ measurements of the altitude profile of Martian upper atmospheric density and composition were carried out by the Viking lander missions in 1976. The MAVEN and MOM spacecraft launched in September 2014 with mass…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Early Release Observations (EROs) is a set of public outreach products created to mark the end of commissioning and the beginning of science operations for JWST. Colloquially known as the "Webb First…
As an end-member of terrestrial planet formation, Mercury holds unique clues about the original distribution of elements in the earliest stages of solar system development and how planets and exoplanets form and evolve in close proximity to…
Recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR$_4$ has an orbital period of almost exactly 4 years, a descending node located almost exactly 1 au from the Sun, with a perihelion slightly less than that. Its combination of semi-major axis and…
The analysis of the surface texture from the particle (grain size, shape and internal structure) to its organization (surface roughness) provides information on the geological processes. CRISM multi-angular observations (varied emission…
On 2020 April 19 a coronal mass ejection (CME) was detected in situ by Solar Orbiter at a heliocentric distance of about 0.8 AU. The CME was later observed in situ on April 20th by the Wind and BepiColombo spacecraft whilst BepiColombo was…
Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA) of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) measures the \emph{in-situ} neutral upper atmospheric constituents of Mars. Martian lower atmosphere predominated by the presence of $CO_2$ which…