Examinando por Autor "Santoli, F."

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Acceso Abierto
BepiColombo Science Investigations During Cruise and Flybys at the Earth, Venus and Mercury
(Springer Link, 2021-02-11) Mangano, V.; Dósa, M.; Franz, M.; Milillo, A.; Joo Lee, Y.; McKenna Lawlor, S.; Grassi, D.; Heyner, D.; Kozyrev, A. S.; Peron, R.; Helbert, J.; Besse, S.; De la Fuente, S.; Montagnon, E.; Zender, J.; Volwerk, M.; Chaufray, J. Y.; Slavin, J. A.; Krüger, H.; Maturilli, A.; Cornet, T.; Iwai, K.; Miyoshi, Y.; Lucente, M.; Massetti, S.; Schmidt, C. A.; Dong, C.; Quarati, F.; Hirai, T.; Varsani, A.; Belyaev, D. A.; Zhong, J.; Kilpua, E. K. J.; Jackson, B. V.; Odstrcil, D.; Plaschke, F.; Vainio, R.; Jarvinen, R.; Ivanovsky, S. L.; Madár, A.; Erdos, G.; Plainaki, C.; Plainaki, C.; Alberti, T.; Alberti, T.; Aizawa, S.; Benkhoff, J.; Murakami, G.; Quemerais, E.; Hiesinger, H.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Iess, L.; Santoli, F.; Orsini, S.; Lichtenegger, H.; Laky, G.; Barabash, S.; Moissl, R.; Huovelin, J.; Kasaba, Y.; Saito, Y.; Kobayashi, H.; Baumjohann, W.; Oliveira, Joana S.; European Research Council (ERC); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Mangano, V. [0000-0002-9903-4053]
The dual spacecraft mission BepiColombo is the first joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to explore the planet Mercury. BepiColombo was launched from Kourou (French Guiana) on October 20th, 2018, in its packed configuration including two spacecraft, a transfer module, and a sunshield. BepiColombo cruise trajectory is a long journey into the inner heliosphere, and it includes one flyby of the Earth (in April 2020), two of Venus (in October 2020 and August 2021), and six of Mercury (starting from 2021), before orbit insertion in December 2025. A big part of the mission instruments will be fully operational during the mission cruise phase, allowing unprecedented investigation of the different environments that will encounter during the 7-years long cruise. The present paper reviews all the planetary flybys and some interesting cruise configurations. Additional scientific research that will emerge in the coming years is also discussed, including the instruments that can contribute.
Acceso Abierto
Geodesy, Geophysics and Fundamental Physics Investigations of the BepiColombo Mission
(Springer Link, 2021-02-26) Genova, A.; Hussmann, H.; Van Hoolst, T.; Heyner, D.; Less, L.; Santoli, F.; Thomas, N.; Cappuccio, P.; Di Stefano, I.; Kolhey, P.; Langlais, B.; Mieth, J. Z. D.; Oliveira, A. S.; Stark, A.; Steinbrügge, G.; Tosi, N.; Wicht, J.; Benkhoff, J.; Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI); Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi); Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR); Genova, A. [0000-0001-5584-492X]; Hussmann, H. [0000-0002-3816-0232]; Van Hoolst, T. [0000-0002-9820-8584]; Heyner, D. [0000-0001-7894-8246]; Iess, L. [0000-0002-6230-5825]; Santoli, F. [0000-0003-2493-0109]; Thomas, N. [0000-0002-0146-0071]; Cappuccio, P. [0000-0002-8758-6627]; Di Stefano, I. [0000-0003-1491-6848]; Langlais, B. [0000-0001-5207-304X]; Oliveira, J. S. [0000-0002-4587-2895]; Stark, A. [0000-0001-9110-1138]; Steinbrügge, G. [0000-0002-1050-7759]; Tosi, N. [0000-0002-4912-2848]; Wicht, J. [0000-0002-2440-5091]; Benkhoff, J. [0000-0002-4307-9703]
In preparation for the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury, thematic working groups had been established for coordinating the activities within the BepiColombo Science Working Team in specific fields. Here we describe the scientific goals of the Geodesy and Geophysics Working Group (GGWG) that aims at addressing fundamental questions regarding Mercury’s internal structure and evolution. This multidisciplinary investigation will also test the gravity laws by using the planet Mercury as a proof mass. The instruments on the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), which are devoted to accomplishing the GGWG science objectives, include the BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA), the Mercury orbiter radio science experiment (MORE), and the MPO magnetometer (MPO-MAG). The onboard Italian spring accelerometer (ISA) will greatly aid the orbit reconstruction needed by the gravity investigation and laser altimetry. We report the current knowledge on the geophysics, geodesy, and evolution of Mercury after the successful NASA mission MESSENGER and set the prospects for the BepiColombo science investigations based on the latest findings on Mercury’s interior. The MPO spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission will provide extremely accurate measurements of Mercury’s topography, gravity, and magnetic field, extending and improving MESSENGER data coverage, in particular in the southern hemisphere. Furthermore, the dual-spacecraft configuration of the BepiColombo mission with the Mio spacecraft at higher altitudes than the MPO spacecraft will be fundamental for decoupling the internal and external contributions of Mercury’s magnetic field. Thanks to the synergy between the geophysical instrument suite and to the complementary instruments dedicated to the investigations on Mercury’s surface, composition, and environment, the BepiColombo mission is poised to advance our understanding of the interior and evolution of the innermost planet of the solar system.