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The visible and infrared Moon And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS), aboard the JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft, will characterize the composition of the surfaces and atmospheres of the Jupiter system. Prior to the launch,…
The Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery instrument (NOMAD), onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft was conceived to observe Mars in solar occultation, nadir, and limb geometries, and will be able to produce an…
Onboard localization capabilities for planetary rovers to date have used relative navigation, by integrating combinations of wheel odometry, visual odometry, and inertial measurements during each drive to track position relative to the…
Amateur contributions to professional publications have increased exponentially over the last decades in the field of Planetary Astronomy. Here we review the different domains of the field in which collaborations between professional and…
The Sun is the nearest astrophysical source with a very intense emission in the X-ray band. The study of energetic events, such as solar flares, can help us to understand the behaviour of the magnetic field of our star. There are in the…
In this paper, we assess the scientific promise and technology feasibility of distributed instruments for planetary science. A distributed instrument is an instrument designed to collect spatially and temporally correlated data from…
We present the scientific case to build a multiple-wavelength, active, near-infrared (NIR) instrument to measure the reflected intensity and polarization characteristics of backscattered radiation from planetary surfaces and atmospheres. We…
Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), which has been carried out for more than 35 years, is used to determine many parameters within the Earth-Moon system. This includes coordinates of terrestrial ranging stations and that of lunar retro-reflectors,…
Large surface temperatures on the illuminated hemisphere of the Moon can lead it to contribute a significant amount of flux to spatially unresolved infrared (IR) observations of the Earth-Moon system, especially at wavelengths where Earth's…
The lunar surface is extremely harsh and current mineral processing and metal extraction technologies are not adequately equipped to address this environment. In this paper we review the metals available for extraction and conditions at the…
Soil assessment is important for mobile robot planning and navigation on natural and planetary environments. Terramechanic characteristics can be inferred from the thermal behaviour of soils under the influence of sunlight using remote…
The complex interplay between the Solar Wind and the lunar surface serves as a quintessential example of space weathering. However, uncertainties persist regarding the influence of plasma originating from Earth's ionosphere, necessitating a…
The Moon is the closest celestial gamma-ray emitting object. Its gamma-ray emission arises from interactions between Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) and the lunar surface. While the lunar GeV gamma-ray spectrum is dominated by a continuum from…
The surface soil moisture is a key variable to describe the exchange of water and energy between the land and the atmosphere. In hydrology, and meteorology, the amount of water in the upper soil layers permits (0-5 cm from the surface) the…
Geo-Synchronous orbits are appealing for Solar or astrophysical observatories because they permit continuous data downlink at high rates. The radiation environment in these orbits presents unique challenges, however. This paper describes…
Modern materials science requires efficient processing and characterization techniques for low dimensional systems. Raman spectroscopy is an important non-destructive tool, which provides enormous information on these materials. This…
In this paper we put forward a proposal to use Near Earth Objects as radiation shield for deep space exploration. In principle these objects can provide also a spacious habitat for the astronauts and their supplies on their journeys. We…
This paper presents an application of artificial intelligence on mass spectrometry data for detecting habitability potential of ancient Mars. Although data was collected for planet Mars the same approach can be replicated for any…
The MONS satellite will have two Star Trackers to sense the spacecraft attitude, and we plan to use them as scientific instruments to perform high-precision photometry of thousands of stars. We briefly describe the current plans for the…
We present an analytic model to estimate the capabilities of space missions dedicated to the search for biosignatures in the atmosphere of rocky planets located in the habitable zone of nearby stars. Relations between performance and…