HR: 0800h
AN: P41A-0919    [Abstracts]
TI: GEP: a Piggyback Package for Deploying Geophysics and Environment Observatories on Mars
AU: Lognonné, P
EM: lognonne@ipgp-jussieu.fr
AF: IPGP, Département de Géophysique Spatiale et Planétaire, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Saint Maur, 94100 France
AU: Spohn, T
EM: tilman.spohn@dlr.de
AF: DLR-PF, Institut für Planetenforschung, Rutherfordstr.~2, Berlin, 12489 Germany
AU: Mimoun, D
EM: mimoun@ipgp-jussieu.fr
AF: IPGP, Département de Géophysique Spatiale et Planétaire, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Saint Maur, 94100 France
AU: Ulamec, S
EM: stephan.ulamec@dlr.de
AF: DLR-RS, Institut für Raumsimulation/MUSC, Linder Höhe, K 51147 Germany
AU: * Biele, J
EM: jens.biele@dlr.de
AF: DLR-RS, Institut für Raumsimulation/MUSC, Linder Höhe, K 51147 Germany
AB: The goal of the Long-Lived Geoscience Observatory on Mars, GEP, is to setup a permanent network of fixed stations on the planet, with the objective of a few years of operation. These stations will monitor with high resolution the seismic activity and the rotation of the planet, the magnetic field and its variations. It will measure the heat flux and monitor and study the environmental conditions (meteorology and atmospheric electric fields) and subsurface (ice/water table, subsurface porosity and volatiles). By providing new geophysical models of Mars' interior, as well as the actual geologic activity of the surface (heat flow, seismic activity), GEP will allow a major step in our understanding of the geological evolution of the planet and the habitability conditions during the first billion years. In addition, GEP will monitor the present Martian climate and meteorology and provides a unique monitoring on potential hazards for future human exploration (radiation levels, atmospheric electricity, dust storms) as well as subsurface characterization. The package's main technical characteristics and interfaces as well as the scientific capabilities of the proposed model payload will be presented. GEP is based on a piggyback approach using, as carriers, the future Mars Lander missions, and relies on a long-term power source, based on RHU. The full payload mass (including margins) is less than 6~kg including a 4.5 kg core payload. The full mass of the autonomous package, including the complete payload, and bus subsystems (with a 20% mass margin) is around 20~kg. The first opportunity for the deployment of the GEP package will be the EXOMARS 2011 mission of ESA's AURORA program but other opportunities might be considered, such as the 2016 AURORA mission, NASA 2011 SCOUT and possibly all other lander mission later than 2011. The GEP stations are a unique contribution to the International Mars exploration in the next decade and will complement the Pasteur-EXOMARS and MSL payloads (focused on exobiology, surface mineralogy and atmosphere composition) by providing key geophysical parameters.
DE: 6225 Mars
DE: 6299 General or miscellaneous
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005