Television pictures of Phobos: first results

In February-March 1989, 37 television images of the Martian satellite Phobos were obtained by the Phobos 2 spacecraft from distances of 200-1100 km. These images provide an important supplement to the TV data from the American Mariner 9 and Viking spacecraft in coverage of t4e surface of Phobos and in resolution in certain regions, in spectral range, and in range of phase angles. They make it possible to refine the figure and topographic and geological maps of the surface of Phobos, its spectral and angular reflective characteristics, the surface composition and texture, and characteristics of the orbital and librational motion

The Effect of Gravity on the Dynamics of a Sessile Drop

Liquid drop is a very common phenomenon occurring in various natural and industrial processes, e.g. thermal management, combustion systems, etc. Although there is a lot of investigations on sessile drops in the literature, there is only a few performed under different gravity conditions. In this work we present experimental results on sessile drops obtained under normal gravity (1g), microgravity (μg) and hypergravity (up to 20g). The microgravity experiment was conducted during the 52nd and 53rd ESA Parabolic Flight Campaigns in Bordeaux, France, Fig. 1a. The hypergravity experiment was carried out in the ESA Large Diameter Centrifuge in Noordwijk, Netherlands

Rivulet/Droplet Dynamics and Boiling Incipience in Microgravity: Results of ESA Parabolic Flights Experiments

Two-phase flows are present in space applications: life support systems, electronic cooling devices, energy production and, as one can expect in the future, in waste water treatment for long duration space exploration missions. In many applications high heat fluxes are achieved by utilising the latent heat associated with the phase change from liquid to vapour. However, the physical mechanisms involved are intricate and many questions remain unanswered. Three independent experiments have been conducted during the 52nd ESA Parabolic Flights Campaign of May 2010 using a common apparatu