Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS)

Author

Park, Young H.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

7

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Firstpage

501

Abstract

The Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS) is an integrated payload on the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) launched on January 3, 1999. The MPL will land on Mars on December 3, 1999. MVACS consists of Surface Stereo Imager (SSI), Robotic Arm (RA) including Robotic Arm Camera (RAC), Meteorology Package (MET) and Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA). The major science objective of MVACS is to study where the Mars volatiles are now and what determines the behavior of Mars volatiles over time. The MVACS will accomplish most science activities during 3 months primary mission and will conduct an extended mission if the Lander continues to function

Keywords

Mars; astronomical instruments; planetary atmospheres; planetary surfaces; space vehicles; MPL; MVACS; Mars; Mars Polar Lander; Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor; Meteorology Package; Robotic Arm; Robotic Arm Camera; Surface Stereo Imager; Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer; chemical analysis; chemical composition; equipment; instrument; integrated payload; measurement technique; mission; planet; planetary atmosphere; spacecraft; surface; Cameras; Gas detectors; Instruments; Mars; Packaging; Payloads; Soil; Surface emitting lasers; Temperature sensors; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 2000 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

ISSN

1095-323X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5846-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2000.879318

Filename

879318