Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the lunar mission “Selene” (cf. Ref. 8) (Launch: 2007). It will study lunar
origin, evolution, and environment. The main orbiter will be in a 100-km
altitude polar circular orbit around the Moon, while its two sub-satellites
will be in elliptical orbits. The main orbiter will carry: X-ray/Gamma-ray
spectrometers, a multi-band imager/spectrometer for studies of elemental
and mineralogical composition; a terrain camera, a laser altimeter and a
radar sounder for topological studies of the lunar surface and subsurface;
a plasma imager for monitoring the Earth's aurora and plasmasphere; a
magnetometer for measuring the remnant magnetic field; and a charged
particle spectrometer, a plasma analyzer, and plasma wave detector for
in situ
studies of the magnetosphere and lunar environment. The S- and
X-band telemetry will also be used for radio occultation studies of the ten-
uous lunar ionosphere. And the two sub-satellites will act as differential
VLBI radiosources and relay satellites for precise determination of lunar
gravity field.
Beyond the disappointing results of the Nozomi orbiter to Mars,
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JAXA
is aiming two orbiters toward our neighborhood planets, PLANET-C to
Venus, and BepiColombo to Mercury. PLANET-C, known as the Venus
Climate Orbiter (VCO)
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(Launch: 2010), will focus on the exploration of
Venus's atmospheric dynamics. The VCO will be in a highly elliptic near-
equatorial orbit (300 km
13 R
V
, with an inclination of 172
◦
). The orbit is
selected to lock onto the angular motion of Venus's cloud layer when VCO
is at its apoapsis, to make possible continuous imaging and visualization
of the global circulation in 3-dimensions, so as to address the questions of
(a) how the super-rotation is generated, (b) how the meridional circulation
contributes to the super-rotation, and (c) how the clouds on Venus are
generated. In order to address these questions, the VCO will carry a suite
of short, medium, and long-wavelength IR imagers as well as a UV imager
and a lightning/airglow camera.
As part of the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury
(Launch: 2012), the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will be led by
JAXA.
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The main objectives of MMO are (1) the first detailed survey of
the magnetic field of the Mercury's magnetized body, (2) the first detailed
survey of the unique magnetosphere of Mercury, (3) the first detailed study
of Mercury's tenuous and unstable exosphere, and (4) detailed monitor of
the inner heliosphere, in close collaboration with the Mercury Planetary
Orbiter (MPO). MMO will have a magnetometer, plasma, and energetic
neutral particle package, a plasma, wave instrument, an imaging spectro-
scopic for sodium exosphere, and a dust counter. The MPO led by ESA
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