The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter

Thomas, N.; Hußmann, H.; Spohn, Tilman; Lara, L. M.; Christensen, Ulrich R.; Affolter, Michael; Bandy, T.; Beck, T.; Chakraborty, Sumita; Geissbuehler, U.; Gerber, Michael; Ghose, Kaustav; Gouman, J.; HosseiniArani, S.; Kuske, K.; Péteut, Alain; Piazza, Daniele; Rieder, Martin; Servonet, Anthony; Althaus, Christian; Behnke, Thomas; Gwinner, K.; Hüttig, Christian; Kallenbach, R.; Lichopoj, A.; Lingenauber, Kay; Lötzke, Horst-Georg; Lüdicke, Fabian; Michaelis, H.; Oberst, J.; Schrödter, R.; Stark, Alexander; Steinbrügge, Gregor; Togno, Simone Del; Wickhusen, Kai; Castro, José Marı́a Bermúdez de; Herranz, M.; Rodrigo, J.; Perplies, H.; Weigel, Thomas; Schulze-Walewski, S.; Blum, Steffen; Casciello, A.; Rugi-Grond, E.; Coppoolse, W.; Rech, Markus; Weidlich, Kai; Leikert, Thomas; Henkelmann, R.; Trefzger, Boris; Metz, Bodo

doi:10.1007/s11214-021-00794-y

Cited by 22 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Their value is higher than what our modeling predicts, although our value of 1.02 ± 0.04 is within their onesigma bound. Future analysis using laser altimetry from the BepiColombo mission to Mercury may provide improved h 2 measurements (Steinbrügge et al 2018b;Thor et al 2020;Genova et al 2021;Thomas et al 2021), against which our predicted value can be tested. Alternatively, an estimate of h 2 can then serve as an additional measurement to better constrain the properties of Mercury's inner core (Steinbrügge et al 2018a).…”

Section: Results For Derived Interior Quantitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Recent Measurements of Mercury’s Moments of Inertia and Tides Using a Comprehensive Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method

et al. 2022

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Recent estimates of Mercury’s rotational state yield different obliquity values, resulting in normalized polar moment of inertia values of either 0.333 or 0.346. In addition, recent measurements of Mercury’s tidal response, as expressed by its Love number k 2, are higher than previously reported. These different measurements have implications for our understanding of Mercury’s interior structure. We perform a comprehensive analysis of models of Mercury’s interior structure using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach, where we explore models that satisfy the various measurements of moments of inertia and mean density. In addition, we explore models that either have Mercury’s tidal response as a measurement or predict its tidal response. We find that models that match the lower polar moment value also fit or predict the recent, higher Love number. Models that match the higher polar moments predict Love numbers even higher than current estimates. For the resulting interior structure models, we find a wide range of viscosities at the core–mantle boundary, including low values that could be consistent with the presence of partial melt, with higher viscosities also equally allowed in our models. Despite the possibility of low viscosities, our results do not show a preference for particularly high temperatures at the core–mantle boundary. Our results include predicted values for the pressure and temperature of Mercury’s core, and the displacement Love numbers.

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Section: Results For Derived Interior Quantitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Recent Measurements of Mercury’s Moments of Inertia and Tides Using a Comprehensive Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method

et al. 2022

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“…Equipped with the BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA; Thomas et al 2007Thomas et al , 2021), BepiColombo's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) will be able to collect laser altimeter data at the same wavelength as MLA. While MESSENGERʼs orbit had an inclination as low as 82°.5 during its orbital operations (Solomon & Anderson 2018), which limited the observations of the region near Mercuryʼs north pole, BepiColomboʼs current plans include a polar orbit for MPO that may allow more measurements of Mercuryʼs northernmost craters (Benkhoff et al 2021).…”

Section: Summary and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Stability and Distribution of Surface Ice in Mercury’s Northernmost Craters

et al. 2023

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Observations made by Earth-based radar telescopes and the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft provided compelling evidence for water ice in Mercury's polar craters. In our investigation, we constructed higher-resolution (125 m pixel−1) digital elevation models (DEMs) for four of the largest northernmost craters, Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadóttir. The DEMs were leveraged to model solar illumination and the thermal environment, products that were used to identify permanently shadowed regions and simulate surface temperatures. From these models, we predicted the regions of surface stability for ice and volatile organic compounds. These predictions were then compared against the Arecibo radar, Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) data. Our radar analysis shows that areas of high radar backscatter are correlated with areas predicted to host surface ice. Additionally, we identify radar backscatter heterogeneities within the deposits that could be associated with variations in ice purity, mantling of the ice, or ice abundances. The MDIS analysis did not reveal conclusive evidence for ice or volatiles at the surface, while MLA results support the presence of water ice at the surface in these craters. However, evidence for boundaries between the surface ice and low-reflectance volatile organic compounds, as suggested could be present by our models, was inconclusive owing to the limited MESSENGER data in these regions. BepiColombo’s upcoming orbital mission at Mercury has the opportunity to obtain new measurements of these high-latitude craters and test our predictions for the distribution of surface volatiles in these environments.

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“…SIMBIO-SYS will acquire high-resolution images of order 2-3 m pixel −1 and produce DTMs of resolution ∼100 m pixel −1 ; 2. MERTIS will obtain unprecedented surface temperature measurements with a resolution of roughly 1 km pixel −1 ; 3. the Mercury Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (Fraser et al 2010;Bunce et al 2020) and Mercury Gamma and Neutron Spectrometer (Mitrofanov et al 2021) will provide observations of the southern hemisphere at smaller scales than were feasible with MESSENGER; and 4. the BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (Gunderson & Thomas 2010;Thomas et al 2021) will obtain topographic measurements of the southern hemisphere. These observations will provide important, new measurements of Mercuryʼs surface, new insights on Mercuryʼs southern hemisphere, and new information to characterize the overall scientific setting of the landing site.…”

Section: Bepicolombo Landing Site Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science Goals and Mission Concept for a Landed Investigation of Mercury

et al. 2022

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Mercury holds valuable clues to the distribution of elements at the birth of the solar system and how planets form and evolve in close proximity to their host stars. This Mercury Lander mission concept returns in situ measurements that address fundamental science questions raised by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission’s pioneering exploration of Mercury. Such measurements are needed to understand Mercury's unique mineralogy and geochemistry, characterize the proportionally massive core's structure, measure the planet's active and ancient magnetic fields at the surface, investigate the processes that alter the surface and produce the exosphere, and provide ground truth for remote data sets. The mission concept achieves one full Mercury year (∼88 Earth days) of surface operations with an 11-instrument, high-heritage payload delivered to a landing site within Mercury's widely distributed low-reflectance material, and it addresses science goals encompassing geochemistry, geophysics, the Mercury space environment, and geology. The spacecraft launches in 2035, and the four-stage flight system uses a solar electric propulsion cruise stage to reach Mercury in 2045. Landing is at dusk to meet thermal requirements, permitting ∼30 hr of sunlight for initial observations. The radioisotope-powered lander continues operations through the Mercury night. Direct-to-Earth communication is possible for the initial 3 weeks of landed operations, drops out for 6 weeks, and resumes for the final month. Thermal conditions exceed lander operating temperatures shortly after sunrise, ending operations. Approximately 11 GB of data are returned to Earth. The cost estimate demonstrates that a Mercury Lander mission is feasible and compelling as a New Frontiers–class mission.

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The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter

Cited by 22 publications

References 44 publications

Evaluation of Recent Measurements of Mercury’s Moments of Inertia and Tides Using a Comprehensive Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method

Evaluation of Recent Measurements of Mercury’s Moments of Inertia and Tides Using a Comprehensive Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method

Investigating the Stability and Distribution of Surface Ice in Mercury’s Northernmost Craters

Science Goals and Mission Concept for a Landed Investigation of Mercury

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