4 research outputs found
The Comet Interceptor Mission
Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESA’s F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum ΔV capability of 600 ms−1. Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes – B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 – that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the mission’s science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule
Recent achievements on ASPIICS, an externally occulted coronagraph for PROBA-3
This paper presents the current status of ASPIICS, a solar coronagraph
that is the primary payload of ESA’s formation flying in-orbit
demonstration mission PROBA-3.
The “sonic region” of the Sun corona remains extremely difficult to
observe with spatial resolution and sensitivity sufficient to understand
the fine scale phenomena that govern the quiescent solar corona, as well
as phenomena that lead to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which influence
space weather. Improvement on this front requires eclipse-like
conditions over long observation times. The space-borne coronagraphs
flown so far provided a continuous coverage of the external parts of the
corona but their over-occulting system did not permit to analyse the
part of the white-light corona where the main coronal mass is
concentrated.
The PROBA-3 Coronagraph System, also known as ASPIICS (Association of
Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of
the Sun) is designed as a classical externally occulted Lyot coronagraph
but it takes advantage of the opportunity to place the external occulter
on a companion spacecraft, about 150m apart, to perform high resolution
imaging of the inner corona of the Sun as close as similar to 1.1 solar
radii. The images will be tiled and compressed on board in an FPGA
before being down-linked to ground for scientific analyses.
ASPIICS is built by a large European consortium including about 20
partners from 7 countries under the auspices of the European Space
Agency. This paper is reviewing the recent development status of the
ASPIICS instrument as it is approaching CDR
Development of ASPIICS: a coronagraph based on Proba-3 formation flying mission
This paper presents the recent achievements in the development of
ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging
Investigation of the Corona of the Sun), a solar coronagraph that is the
primary payload of ESA's formation flying in-orbit demonstration mission
PROBA-3. The PROBA-3 Coronagraph System is designed as a classical
externally occulted Lyot coronagraph but it takes advantage of the
opportunity to place the 1.4 meter wide external occulter on a companion
spacecraft, about 150m apart, to perform high resolution imaging of the
inner corona of the Sun as close as similar to 1.1 solar radii. Besides
providing scientific data, ASPIICS is also equipped with sensors for
providing relevant navigation data to the Formation Flying GNC system.
This paper is reviewing the recent development status of the ASPIICS
instrument as it passed CDR, following detailed design of all the
sub-systems and testing of STM and various Breadboard models.
ASPIICS is built by a large European consortium including about 20
partners from 7 countries under the auspices of the European Space
Agency
Design status of ASPIICS, an externally occulted coronagraph for PROBA-3.
The “sonic region” of the Sun corona remains extremely difficult to
observe with spatial resolution and sensitivity sufficient to understand
the fine scale phenomena that govern the quiescent solar corona, as well
as phenomena that lead to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which influence
space weather. Improvement on this front requires eclipse-like
conditions over long observation times. The space-borne coronagraphs
flown so far provided a continuous coverage of the external parts of the
corona but their over-occulting system did not permit to analyse the
part of the white-light corona where the main coronal mass is
concentrated. The proposed PROBA-3 Coronagraph System, also known as
ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging
Investigation of the Corona of the Sun), with its novel design, will be
the first space coronagraph to cover the range of radial distances
between similar to 1.08 and 3 solar radii where the magnetic field plays
a crucial role in the coronal dynamics, thus providing continuous
observational conditions very close to those during a total solar
eclipse.
PROBA-3 is first a mission devoted to the in-orbit demonstration of
precise formation flying techniques and technologies for future European
missions, which will fly ASPIICS as primary payload. The instrument is
distributed over two satellites flying in formation (approx. 150m apart)
to form a giant coronagraph capable of producing a nearly perfect
eclipse allowing observing the sun corona closer to the rim than ever
before.
The coronagraph instrument is developed by a large European consortium
including about 20 partners from 7 countries under the auspices of the
European Space Agency. This paper is reviewing the recent improvements
and design updates of the ASPIICS instrument as it is stepping into the
detailed design phase