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A new electrostatic ramjet space engine is proposed and analyzed. The upper atmosphere (85 -1000 km) is extremely dense in ions (millions per cubic cm). The interplanetary medium contains positive protons from the solar wind. A charged ball…
Experiments, analyses, and simulations have shown that the engine exhaust plume of a Mars lander large enough for human spaceflight will create a deep crater in the martian soil, blowing ejecta to approximately 1 km distance, damaging the…
It is still unknown how much water has escaped from Mars during its history. Hydrogen escape from Mars's atmosphere probably played a major role in drying the planet, but present-day Hloss rates (about 3x10^26 atoms per second on average)…
We outline a class of problems, typical of Mars rover operations, that are problematic for current methods of planning under uncertainty. The existing methods fail because they suffer from one or more of the following limitations: 1) they…
The wind-driven hopping motion of sand grains, known as saltation, forms dunes and ripples and ejects fine dust particles into the atmosphere on both Earth and Mars. While the wind speed at which saltation is initiated, the fluid threshold,…
Cosmic radiation is a critical factor for astronauts' safety in the context of evaluating the prospect of future space exploration. The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on board the Curiosity Rover launched by the Mars Scientific…
In contrast to the Earth, where frictional heating is typically negligible, we show that drag mechanisms could act as an important heat source in the strongly-forced atmospheres of some exoplanets, with the potential to alter the…
We use a hierarchy of numerical models (a 3-D Global Climate Model, a 1-D radiative-convective model and a 2-D Mantle Dynamics model) to explore the environmental effects of very large impacts on the atmosphere, surface and interior of…
Mars finished forming while the solar nebula was still present, and acquired its primordial atmosphere from this reservoir. The absence of a detectable cometary xenon signature in the present-day Martian atmosphere suggests that the capture…
The search for extraterrestrial life has long been a primary focus of scientific exploration, driven by rapid advancements in technology and our understanding of the universe. The discovery of water on Mars has sparked significant interest,…
In this paper we explore the effectiveness of an artificial mini-magnetosphere as a potential radiation shelter for long term human space missions. Our study includes the differences that the plasma environment makes to the efficiency of…
The NASA InSight Lander on Mars includes the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package HP$^3$ to measure the surface heat flow of the planet. The package uses temperature sensors that would have been brought to the target depth of 3--5 m by…
Over the history of planetary exploration, atmospheric entry vehicles have been used to deliver probes and landers to Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Titan. While the entry vehicles are tools for furthering scientific exploration, by delivering…
The paper deals with the investigation of the Mars subsurface by means of data collected by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding working at few MHz frequencies. A data processing strategy, which combines a simple…
The study of planetary atmospheres is critical to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System. The combined effect of various physical and chemical processes over billions of years have resulted in a variety of…
Exploration of extreme or remote environments such as Mars is often recognized as an opportunity for multi-robot systems. However, this poses challenges for maintaining robust inter-robot communication without preexisting infrastructure. It…
In 2020, hydrogen chloride (HCl) in the gas phase was discovered in the atmosphere of Mars with the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) onboard the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission (Korablev et al., 2021). Its volume mixing ratio (VMR) shows a…
Space agencies have been incessantly working to propose a sustainable architecture for human Mars mission. But, before proceeding to a giant leap and accomplishing those mission intent, it is significant to know the extent of possibility to…
Data assimilation is an increasingly popular technique in Mars atmospheric science, but its effect on the mean states of the underlying atmosphere models has not been thoroughly examined. The robustness of results to the choice of model and…
The extent to which a magnetosphere protects its planetary atmosphere from stellar wind ablation depends upon how well it prevents energy and momentum exchange with the atmosphere and how well it traps otherwise escaping plasma. We focus on…