Direct Measurement of Neutral Gas during Hypervelocity Planetary Flybys

Fausch, Rico G.; Wurz, Peter; Cotting, Bjorn; Rohner, Urs; Tulej, Marek

doi:10.1109/aero53065.2022.9843767

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The OpenTOF instrument enables novel mission concepts with unprecedented possibilities. Eliminating the antechamber and replacing it with the direct open source [68] prepares for measurements of complex molecules and radicals during flybys in the velocity range of 0 to 20 km/s without interference of HVI-induced fragmentation due to bond-dissociation [64] and its related issues regarding an ambiguous interpretation of data [5,68].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The additionally consumed mass exceeds the mass savings regarding the simplified mounting of the ion-optical system. The total mass budget consists of the instrument mass (3.5 kg [68]), shielding mass (3.8 kg for Europa flybys [68]) and the slewing mechanism, which weighs about 2.5 kg for a shielded (NIM-baseline) instrument.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This instrument is therefore subject to the routinely performed contamination control procedures. In addition, the direct open source technique seems to offer promising capabilities to overcome this issue using energy differences of species [68], however, such a capability, its extent and its impact are subject to future studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OpenTOF Instrument is an instrument designed for instant analysis of neutral gas consisting of simple, moderately complex and complex molecules optimized for the requirements of flybys. Its direct open source is a solution to the quest of omitting the antechamber while maintaining the level of the used high voltages to overcome HVIrelated fragmentation [67,68]. The direct open source is a technique that enables sampling of complex molecules at hypervelocity, i.e., speeds exceeding 5 km/s, by directly guiding the incoming gas into the mass analyzer where they can be analyzed.…”

Section: The Opentof Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ion-optical system is directly mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB) [67,68,82]. Thanks to this approach, both high-voltage connectors and cables can be saved.…”

Section: Mechanical and Electrical Realizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Advances in Mass Spectrometers for Flyby Space Missions for the Analysis of Biosignatures and Other Complex Molecules

Fausch

Schertenleib²,

Würz³

2022

Universe

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Spacecraft flybys provide access to the chemical composition of the gaseous envelope of the planetary object. Typical relative encounter velocities range from km/s to tens of km/s in flybys. For speeds exceeding about 5 km/s, modern mass spectrometers analyzing the rapidly encountering gas suffer from intrinsic hypervelocity impact-induced fragmentation processes causing ambiguous results when analyzing complex molecules. In this case, instruments use an antechamber, inside which the incoming species collide many times with the chamber wall. These collisions cause the desired deceleration and thermalization of the gas molecules. However, these collisions also dissociate molecular bonds, thus fragmenting the molecules, and possibly forming new ones precluding scientists from inferring the actual chemical composition of the sampled gas. We developed a novel time-of-flight mass spectrometer that handles relative encounter velocities of up to 20 km/s omitting an antechamber and its related fragmentation. It analyzes the complete mass range of m/z 1 to 1000 at an instance. This innovation leads to unambiguous analysis of complex (organic) molecules. Applied to Enceladus, Europa or Io, it will provide reliable chemical composition datasets for exploration of the Solar System to determine its status, origin and evolution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Opentof Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ion-optical system is directly mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB) [67,68,82]. Thanks to this approach, both high-voltage connectors and cables can be saved.…”

Section: Mechanical and Electrical Realizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Advances in Mass Spectrometers for Flyby Space Missions for the Analysis of Biosignatures and Other Complex Molecules

Fausch

Schertenleib²,

Würz³

2022

Universe

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CHESS: Measuring the Dynamics of Composition and Density of Earth's Upper Atmosphere with CubeSats

Fausch

Möller

Rothacher

et al. 2022

2022 IEEE Aerospace Conference (AERO)

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Earth's upper atmosphere is a dynamic system that is determined by external and internal forces. Understanding this system allows for insights into the evolution of a habitable world and, therefore, the origin of our Solar System. In addition, it is the environment for many satellites that are key to our modern world. The uppermost part of Earth's atmosphere, the exosphere and ionosphere, couples the collision-dominated thermosphere with outer space, where other processes determine the trajectories of the particles. Whereas the thermosphere is mostly gravitationally bound to the planet, a fraction of the particles present in the exosphere leaves Earth into interplanetary space. Over geologic times, these loss processes are an important factor in the evolution of an atmosphere and are considered being the main reason why Earth currently has a habitable atmospheric surface composition in contrast to Venus and Mars, which were all very similar once. In the short term, the variability of the Sun's radiation, including both photons (from XUV to IR) and energetic particles causes considerable variations in the chemical composition, the density, and the spatial extent of the TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .

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