Processing OMEGA/Mars Express hyperspectral imagery from radiance-at-sensor to surface reflectance

OMEGA/Mars Express hyperspectral imagery is an excellent source of data for exploring the surface composition of the planet Mars. Compared to terrestrial hyperspectral imagery, the data are challenging to work with; scene-specific transmission models are lacking, spectral features are shallow making them difficult to detect, and field data for...

Influence of hysteresis on the dynamics of cryogenic LNG composite hoses

In order to assess the influence of hysteretic bending behaviour of hoses used for LNG transfer in dynamic environments, a modelling strategy is set up. The modelling allows to include arbitrary internal frictional effects in the hose. After identifying the parameters for various friction models based on measurement results performed on the...

Nonlinear resonances in an axially excited beam carryingf a top mass: simulations and experiments

Melt and collapse of buried water ice: An alternative hypothesis for the formation of chaotic terrains on Mars

Chaotic terrains and the associated massive outflow channels are some of the most enigmatic features on Mars. Over hundreds of kilometres of rock units are fractured, tilted, and have subsided, forming chaotic terrain basins (Sharp, 1973). Large quantities of water emanated from these chaotic terrains in short periods of time in the Hesperian...

Shock and bubble collapse loading for close proximity underwater explosions with rigid and deformable targets

The study describes recent simulation results for underwater explosions in close-proximity to rigid and responding targets. Simulations are performed using Chinook, an Eulerian computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, in standalone mode and coupled with the Lagrangian solver LS-DYNA. Predicted fluid pressures and target deformations are compared...

Scattering matrices and expansion coefficients of martian analogue palagonite particles

We present measurements of ratios of elements of the scattering matrix of martian analogue palagonite particles for scattering angles ranging from 3° to 174° and a wavelength of 632.8 nm. To facilitate the use of these measurements in radiative transfer calculations we have devised a method that enables us to obtain, from these measurements, a...

SPEX: An in-orbit spectropolarimeter for planetary exploration

SPEX (Spectropolarimeter for Planetary EXploration) is an innovative, compact remote-sensing instrument for detecting and characterizing aerosols. With its 1-liter volume it is capable of full linear spectropolarimetry, without moving parts. High precision polarimetry is performed through encoding the degree and angle of linear polarization of...

Combined Raman/LIBS spectrometer elegant breadboard - built and tested - and flight model spectrometer unit

Combined Raman spectrometer/laser-induced breakdown spectrometer for the next ESA mission to Mars

Among the different instruments that have been pre-selected to be on-board the Pasteur payload on ExoMars is the Raman/laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument. Raman spectroscopy and LIBS will be integrated into a single instrument sharing many hardware commonalities. An international team under the lead of TNO has been gathered...

Design approach and implementation of a Mars surface food production unit

This paper describes a design proposal for adapting the OGEGU Food Production Unit (FPU) to the surface of Mars in order to produce up to 40% of the diet for a six-member crew by growing a pre-defined set of vegetable food species. The external structure, lighting system and plant support system are assessed using ESM analysis. The study shows...