An ionospheric sounder for the Mars landers

Abstract The planet Mars has been visited in the past by orbital probes and landers to study the atmosphere and the ground. But despite these numerous missions, more than 20 years ago, many parameters and phenomena are not known at this time. The large possibilities given by new technologies, in terms of weight and power consumption, allow the realization of new experiments at the surface of Mars. The aim is to propose the installation of a bottomside ionospheric sounder. This instrument will contribute to our scientific understanding of Mars. It will answer one of the main scientific objectives of the IMEWG (International Mars Exploration Working Group) mission scenario: the characterization of the Martian upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. Ionospheric sounding is a well-known technique at the surface of the Earth which has proven to be very useful for the study of the lower ionosphere. The principle is to transmit a radio pulse vertically and to measure the time which elapses before the echo is received. By varying the frequency of the pulse carrier wave, a plot can be obtained of echo delay versus frequency. It gives information about the propagation medium. The scientific objectives are described which can be achieved with such an experiment and the parameters which can be measured underlining the specificity of the Martian atmosphere are given. The theoretical scientific background of this sounder is briefly described and, finally, its feasibility is discussed.

[1]  Reinhold Reiter,et al.  Electrical Processes in Atmospheres , 1977 .

[2]  Janet G. Luhmann,et al.  Outstanding problems in Mars aeronomy , 1995 .

[3]  Janet G. Luhmann,et al.  A post-pioneer Venus reassessment of the Martian dayside ionosphere as observed by radio occultation methods , 1990 .

[4]  E. Goto.  30th COSPAR Scientific Assembly , 1994 .

[5]  James S. Sims,et al.  The ionosphere of mars below 80 km altitude—I quiescent conditions , 1971 .

[6]  J. Luhmann,et al.  Near-Mars space , 1991 .

[7]  George L. Siscoe,et al.  The Solar–Terrestrial Environment , 1995 .

[8]  Janet G. Luhmann,et al.  An observational study of the nightside ionospheres of Mars and Venus with radio occultation methods , 1990 .

[9]  J. Luhmann,et al.  Comparisons of peak ionosphere pressures at Mars and Venus with incident solar wind dynamic Pressure , 1992 .

[10]  I. Nakatani,et al.  Planet-B mission to Mars — 1998 , 1996 .

[11]  N. A. Armand,et al.  The “long wavelength radar” on the Mars-94 orbiter , 1995 .

[12]  Gian Gabriele Ori,et al.  Potentiality of the ground-penetrating radar for the analysis of the stratigraphy and sedimentology of Mars , 1996 .

[13]  G. Briggs,et al.  Viking Orbiter imaging observations of dust in the Martian atmosphere , 1979 .

[14]  R. M. Henry,et al.  Mars meteorology - Three seasons at the surface , 1978 .

[15]  Henry Rishbeth,et al.  Introduction to ionospheric physics , 1969 .

[16]  B. Vonnegut,et al.  Electrical Breakdown Caused by Dust Motion in Low-Pressure Atmospheres: Considerations for Mars , 1973, Science.

[17]  S. Quegan,et al.  A mobile Lander-Borne radar to investigate the subsurface of the planet Mars , 1990 .

[18]  T. Cravens,et al.  The ionospheric effects of a weak intrinsic magnetic field at Mars , 1992 .

[19]  J. Fox,et al.  Upper limits to the nightside ionosphere of Mars , 1993 .

[20]  A. Mills.  Dust clouds and frictional generation of glow discharges on Mars , 1977, Nature.

[21]  L.J.C. Woolliscroft,et al.  On the use of a mobile surface radar to study the atmosphere and ionosphere of mars , 1990 .

[22]  R. Stewart.  The Electron Distributions in the Mars and Venus Upper Atmospheres , 1971 .

[23]  H. Eden.  Review of Electrification Processes in Planetary Atmospheres , 1976 .

[24]  F. Heller,et al.  Triassic paleomagnetic results from the Yangtze Block, S.E. China , 1993 .

[25]  R. Grard,et al.  Plasma and waves around Mars , 1991 .

[26]  R. Grard,et al.  Electron density in the Martian foreshock as a by-product of the electron plasma oscillation observations , 1992 .