The payload of Mars Express re-confirmed
The Science Programme Committee of the European
Space Agency at its meeting on 9-10 November 1999 re-confirmed
the payload of the Mars Express mission as approved in May 1998,
with two important additions:
- an Infrared channel,
which was added to
the SPICAM, UV and
IR Atmospheric
Spectrometer (PI:
J.-L. Bertaux). In the
light of the loss of
NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter, the new SPICAM
configuration allows the recovery of a good part of the
science objectives previously addressed by the Mars
Climate Orbiter. - a Super Resolution Channel (SRC), added to the HRSC,
High-resolution Stereo Colour Imager (PI: G. Neukum). This
new channel will allow the collection of images at
unprecedented resolution, which will create a reference
database for many years to come.
Another important element of the payload was also confirmed.
Following the positive outcome of various reviews, both at UK and
European level, the UK Mars lander Beagle-2 was considered
sufficently mature, both technically and financially, to commence
Phase C/D in January 2000. The confirmation by SPC, as requested
by the UK SPC delegation, comes in advance of the previously
planned date (February 2000). As a consequence, the development
of the entire Mars Express payload, Orbiter and Lander, can
proceed in full harmony.
