Leslie K. Tamppari

Simulating Martian boundary layer water ice clouds and the lidar measurements for the Phoenix mission

[1]xa0Diurnal variation of ground fog and water ice cloud formation at the NASA Phoenix lander site is investigated using a one-dimensional Mars Microphysical Model (MMM) coupled with the results from the one-dimensional University of Helsinki atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) model. Phoenix is scheduled to reach Mars in May 2008 and land in the northern plains (65°–72°N). Observations from Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer for the proposed landing site and season Ls = 76°–125° have been used for the model initialization, both in the ABL and MMM. The diurnal variations of temperature and eddy diffusion coefficients produced by the uncoupled ABL are then applied to the MMM. Extinction and backscattering coefficients and lidar ratios are presented for the simulated dust and water ice clouds at the Phoenix location. Results of the dust and ice clouds are then used to simulate the Phoenix lidar measurements at two wavelengths, 532 and 1064 nm.

Operations and reconfiguration of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for comet observations

On October 19, 2014, a comet passed so close to Mars that its debris cloud enveloped the planet. This Mars comet flyby provided the unique opportunity to temporarily turn Mars missions into comet missions, and obtain data that would advance the scientific knowledge of comets. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) team implemented new operations and reconfigured the spacecraft to observe Comet Siding Spring. The flexibility in the operations approach enabled the spacecraft to successfully acquire more than 50 observations of the comet, including the highest resolution images of any other spacecraft or telescope in the solar system.