This data set includes the complete set of Mars Express mission SPICE data files (``kernel files''), which can be accessed using SPICE software. The SPICE data contains geometric and other ancillary information needed to recover the full value of the science instrument data. In particular SPICE kernels provide spacecraft and planetary ephemerides, instrument mounting alignments, spacecraft orientation, spacecraft sequences of events, and data needed for r^ant time conversions.
Description
1. SPICE System Overview = SPICE data contain geometric and other ancillary information needed to recover the full value of science instrument data. In particular, SPICE kernels provide spacecraft and planetary ephemerides, instrument mounting alignments and spacecraft orientation. Data needed for r^ant time conversions is also included. SPICE was designed by the Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) to aid scientists and engineers with ancillary and engineering data. This data comes from a wide range of sources such as the spacecraft, the mission control center and the designers of the spacecraft and its instruments. The ancillary data comprises information on data acquisition; position and orientation of the spacecraft at the time of acquisition; information on the target, such as location, shape and orientation; reference frame specifications and time conversion data. The primary SPICE data sets are often called 'kernels' or 'kernel files'. These kernels are composed of ancillary information, which has been created in such a way as to allow easy access and correct usage by the space science and engineering communities. In addition to the kernels, there is software provided, known as the SPICE Toolkit, along with standards, documentation and software support. The SPICE Toolkit and documentation can be found at: https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/ The SPICE Toolkit was freely offered to the worldwide space science and space mission engineering communities at the time this data set was released. The few rules governing its use are posted on the ''Rules'' page of the NAIF website: https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/rules.html SPICE is used on a number of space missions, such as ESA's Mars Express, SMART-1, Venus Express, ExoMars2016, BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter and Rosetta missions, and all of NASA's solar system exploration missions. The SPICE system has been produced and is maintained by Ca...ltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory under contract to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. For an additional explanation of the SPICE system, please consult SPICE_INST.CAT. 2. Data Producers and Other Key Personnel The Mars Express SPICE data set has been produced by Semenov, B. (NAIF/JPL) Diaz, J. (ESAC/ESA) Vazquez, J.L. (ESAC/ESA) Barthelemy, M. (ESAC/ESA) Heather, D. (ESAC/ESA) Costa Sitja, M. (NAIF/JPL) Escalante, A. (ESAC/ESA) Valles, R. (ESAC/ESA) and archived by Costa Sitja, M. (NAIF/JPL) Escalante, A. (ESAC/ESA) Valles, R. (ESAC/ESA) 3. The Mars Express SPICE data set = The Mars Express SPICE data set consists of several SPICE kernels, organised as follows: * CK: These kernels contain information about orientation of the space vehicle or any articulating structure on it. More information on the CK kernels in this data set is provided in CKINFO.TXT. * DSK: These kernels contain information about the shape of the Mars Express spacecraft structures and Mars Express mission targets. More information on DSKs in this data set is provided in DSKINFO.TXT. * FK: These kernels contain definitions of and specifications of relationships between reference frames (coordinate systems). Among the frames kernels included, there are kernels that specify reference frames related to the earth, mission targets, and the spacecraft and its instruments. More information on FKs in this data set is provided in FKINFO.TXT. * IK: These kernels contain instrument information, such as field of view or internal timing specifications. There are IKs provided for most of the Mars Express spacecraft instruments. More information on IKs in this data set is provided in IKINFO.TXT. * LSK: These kernels contain a table with the leapseconds used to convert between ET and UTC. If there are multiple LSKs in this data set, the latest kernel supersedes the previous ones. More information on LSKs in this data set is provided in LSKINFO.TXT. * PCK: These kernels provide information about Solar System bodies orientation and shape, and possibly parameters for gravitational, atmospheric or rings models. The data set contains PCK kernels for the planets and their satellites. More information on the PCK kernels in this data set is provided in PCKINFO.TXT. * SCLK: These kernels contain data needed for conversion between ET and spacecraft clock. If there are multiple SCLKs in this data set, the latest kernel supersedes the previous ones. More information on SCLKs in this data set is provided in SCLKINFO.TXT. * SPK: These kernels contain ephemeris data (position and velocity) of the spacecraft and solar system bodies. The data set provides kernels with such information for the planets, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Phobos, Deimos, ground tracking stations and the Mars Express spacecraft. More information on SPKs in this data set is provided in SPKINFO.TXT. 3.1 - Origin of the kernels. a) Generic kernels such as PCKs, LSKs and some of the SPKs are provided by NAIF. - Frames kernels for ground stations. b) Other kernels provided by NAIF. - The Mars Express frames (FK) and some instrument kernels (IK) have been created by B. Semenov, in collaboration with the ESA SPICE Service. c) Kernels generated with ESOC Ancillary Data. - ESOC ancillary data are the main source of information required to create SPICE kernels for attitude (CK), orbit (SPK) and time (SCLK) information for the Spacecraft. d) Kernels created by the ESA SPICE Service, alone or in collaboration with the instrument teams. These include: - The instrument kernels (IK) have been developed by the ESA SPICE Service, in collaboration with the instrument teams and NAIF. - Kernel with mission independent frames, created by the ESA SPICE Service. - CK kernels with orientation of the Mars Express S/C as defined by the quaternions provided by the housekeeping telemetry. - CK kernels with orientation of the Mars Express Solar Arrays. - Kernel with orientation of the MAG boom. - The digital shape kernels (DSK) have been developed by the ESA SPICE Service. e) Kernels from other sources. These include: - Ephemeris kernels provided by Royal Observatory of Belgium. They contain spacecraft position information, calculated independently of ESOC ancillary data. - CK kernels describing the motion of the ASPERA scanner, produced by the ASPERA team. 3.2 - Creation of SPK, CK and SCLK kernels from ESOC Ancillary Data. Orbit Data. ---------In terms of orbital data, the mission can be divided in three different phases: cruise phase, nominal and extended. This data set covers the cruise and nominal phases, and several different types of data products are provided by ESOC: ORHM and ORMM. The ORHM product covers the cruise phase from launch to the Mars Insertion, and provides the orbit data as heliocentric states. There is only one ORHM product. During nominal and extended phases, a new ORMM file is provided on a regular basis, each of them covering a month period. The orbital data contained in these files are states with respect to Mars. Attitude Data. ------------Attitude data for the spacecraft are provided for all mission phases except for safe modes, for the past and the near future. The attitude is provided in several records, called segments, each covering a specific time span. These segments have no overlap, but there may be gaps between the segments, and even gaps in the segments. Provided attitude data usually is predicted, although kernels with reconstructed data are present in the data set if needed (for time intervals for which the predicted attitude is known to be not accurate enough). Time Correlation Data. --------------------Time Correlation is one of the most critical pieces of information needed for the use of the SPICE system within the Mars Express mission. This information allows the conversion between the Mars Express S/C Clock time and UTC time. ESOC always provide predicted and reconstituted orbit data, but only predicted attitude data. These products are the source of the CK and SPK kernels. ESOC generated time correlation data records and stored them in the telemetry server. These records were the source for the SCLK kernel. An automated system, called ADCS (Auxiliary Data Conversion System) was responsible for the generation of CK, SPK and SCLK kernels from the ESOC flight dynamics data file products and telemetry server SCLK records. ADCS detected when a new product was generated or a new time correlation packet was available, and ran a series of processes in order to create the proper kernels. ADCS used the SPICE Toolkit in order to fulfill its task. It ran on a server physically located at ESTEC until December 2007; after that date, the server was located at ESAC. 3.3 - Using the SPICE kernels. At least a basic knowledge of the SPICE system is needed in order to use these kernels. The SPICE Toolkit provides versions in Fortran (SPICELIB), C (CSPICE), IDL (icy), Matlab (Mice), and Java (JNISpice) and the user can choose any one that suits him/her. The SPICE routine FURNSH can be used to load a kernel file into a SPICE-based application to make kernel's data usable with SPICE APIs. In the case when two or more kernel files contain data overlapping in time for a given object, for binary kernels, the file loaded last takes precedence. If two (or more) text kernels assign value(s) using the '=' operator to identical keywords, the data value(s) associated with the last loaded occurrence of the keyword are used -all earlier values have been replaced with the last loaded value(s). 3.4 - Meta-kernels A metakernel file, called 'MEX_Vvv.TM', can be found under the ``EXTRAS/MK/'' directory in this data set. This file can be used with a SPICE-based application running on a UNIX workstation to load Mars Express SPICE data provided in this data set together (note that the logical path provided in the PATH_VALUES keyword and pointing to the volume root directory should be changed to the actual path of the volume root directory on the system where the volume is mounted). When there are two or more kernels that cover the same time interval (as is the case here for the .BSP and .BC kernels) the last kernel loaded is the one used by the SPICE software for computations in the interval or overlap.
Instrument
SPICE
Temporal Coverage
2003-06-02T00:00:00Z/2023-12-31T00:00:00Z
Version
V2.0
Mission Description
TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------= Mission Overview = Mission Phases Description - Prelaunch - Near Earth Commissioning Phase (NECP) - Interplanetary Cruise Phase - Mars Orbit Insertion Phase (VOI) - Mars Orbit Commissioning Phase - Routine Operations Phase - MARSIS Deployment - Extended Operations Phase - Post Mission Phase = Science Subphases = Individual Objectives per Instrument - ASPERA - HRSC - MaRS - MARSIS - MELACOM - OMEGA - PFS - MAG - SPICAM - VMC - BEAGLE-2 Mission Overview Mars Express was the first flexible mission of the revised long-term ESA Science Programme Horizons 2000 and was launched to the planet Mars from Baikonur (Kazakhstan) on June 2nd 2003. A Soyuz-Fregat launcher injected the Mars Express total mass of about 1200 kg into Mars transfer orbit. Details about the mission launch sequence and profile can be obtained from the Mission Plan (MEX-MMT-RP-0221) and from the Consolidated Report on Mission Analysis (CREMA)(MEX-ESC-RP- 5500). The mission consisted of (i) a 3-axis stabilized orbiter with a fixed high-gain antenna and body-mounted instruments, and (ii) a lander named BEAGLE-2, and was dedicated to the orbital and in-situ study of the interior, subsurface, surface and atmosphere of the planet. After ejection of a small lander on 18 December 2003 and Mars orbit insertion (MOI) on 25 December 2003, the orbiter experiments began the acquisition of scientific data from Mars and its environment in a polar elliptical orbit. The nominal mission lifetime for the orbiter was 687 days following Mars orbit insertion, starting after a 5 months cruise. The nominal science phase was extended (tbc) for another Martian year in order to complement earlier observations and allow data relay communications for various potential Mars landers up to 2008, provided that the spacecraft resources permit it. The Mars Express spacecraft represented the core of the mission, being sci...entifically justified on its own by investigations such as high- resolution imaging and mineralogical mapping of the surface, radar sounding of the subsurface structure down to the permafrost, precise determination of the atmospheric circulation and composition, and study of the interaction of the atmosphere with the interplanetary medium. The broad scientific objectives of the orbiter payload are briefly listed thereafter and are given more extensively in the experiment publications contained in ESA's Special Publication Series. See NEUKUM&JAUMANN2004, BIBRINGETAL2004, PICARDIETAL2004, FORMISANOETAL2004, BERTAUXETAL2004, PAETZOLDETAL2004 and PULLANETAL2004. The Mars Express lander Beagle-2 was ejected towards the Mars surface on 19 December 2003, six days before the orbiters capture manoeuvre. The probe mass was limited to about 70 kg by the mission constraints, which led to a landed mass of 32 kg. The complete experimental package was weighed in approximately at 9kg. The landers highly integrated scientific payload was supposed to focus on finding whether there is convincing evidence for past life on Mars or assessing if the conditions were ever suitable. Following safe landing on Mars, this lander mission would have conducted dedicated studies of the geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, meteorology and exobiology of the immediate landing site located in Isidis Planitia (90.74?E, 11.6?N), as well as studies of the chemistry of the Martian atmosphere. Surface operations were planned to last about 180 sols or Martian days ( about 6 months on Earth), see SIMSETAL1999. As no communication could be established to the BEAGLE-2 lander, it was considered lost in February 2004 after an extensive 'search'. A nominal launch of Mars Express allowed the modify the orbit to a 'G3-ubeq100' orbit. The 'G3-ubeq100' orbit is an elliptical orbit, starting with the sub-spacecraft point at pericentre at the equator and a sun ^ation of 60 degrees. At the beginning of the mission, the pericentre moves southward with a shift of 0.54 degree per day. At the same time the pericentre steps towards the terminator which will be reached after about 4 months, giving the optical instruments optimal observing conditions during this initial period. Throughout this initial phase lasting until mid- May 2004, the downlink rate will decrease from 114 kbit/s to 38 kbit/s. After an orbit change manoeuvre on 06 May 2004 the pericentre latitude motion is increased to guarantee a 50/50 balance between dayside and nightside operations. With this manoeuvre, the apocentre altitude is lowered from 14887 km to 13448 km, the orbital period lowered from ~7.6 hours to 6.645 hours, and the pericentre latitude drift slightly increased to 0.64 degree per day. After 150 days, at the beginning of June 2004, the South pole region was reached with the pericentre already behind the terminator. Following, the pericentre moves northward with the Sun ^ation increasing. Thus, the optical instruments covered the Northern Mars hemisphere under good illumination conditions from mid-September 2004 to March 2005. During the next mission phase, lasting until July 2005, the pericentre was again in the dark. It covered the North polar region and moves southward. Finally, throughout the last 4 months of the nominal mission, the pericentre was back to daylight and moves from the equator to the South pole, and the downlink rate reached its highest rate of 228 kbit/s. The osculating orbit elements for the eq100 orbit are listed below: Epoch 2004:1:13 - 15:56:0.096 Pericentre (rel. sphere of 3397.2 km) 279.29 km Apocentre (rel. sphere) 11634.48 km Semimajor axis 9354.09 km Eccentricity 0.60696 Inclination 86.583 Right ascension of ascending node 228.774 Argument of pericentre 357.981 True anomaly -0.001 Mission Phases The mission phases are defined as: (i) Pre-launch, Launch and Early Operations activities, including (1) science observation planning; (2) payload assembly, integration and testing; (3) payload data processing software design, development and testing; (4) payload calibration; (5) data archive definition and planning; (6) launch campaign. (ii) Near-Earth verification (EV) phase, including (1) commissioning of the orbiter spacecraft; (2) verification of the payload status; (3) early commissioning of payload. (iii) Interplanetary cruise (IC) phase (1) payload checkouts (2) trajectory corrections (iv) Mars arrival and orbit insertion (MOI) (1) Mars arrival preparation; (2) lander ejection; (3) orbit insertion; (4) operational orbit reached and declared; (5) no payload activities. (v) Mars commissioning phase (1) final instrument commissioning, (2) first science results, (3) change of orbital plane. (vi) Routine phase; Opportunities for dawn/dusk observations, mostly spectroscopy and photometry. This phase continued into a low data rate phase (night time; favorable for radar and spectrometers). Then daylight time, and went into a higher data rate period (medium illumination, zenith, then decreasing illumination conditions). Observational conditions were most favorable for the optical imaging instruments at the end of the routine phase, when both data downlink rate and Sun ^ation are high. (vii) MARSIS Deployment The dates of the MARSIS antenna deployment is not known as of writing this catalogue file. (viii) Extended operations phase A mission extension will be proposed in early 2005 to the Science Programme Committee (SPC). (ix) Post-mission phase (final data archival). Science Subphases = For the purpose of structuring further the payload operations planning, the mission phases are further divided into science subphases. The science subphases are defined according to operational restrictions, the main operational restrictions being the downlink rate and the Sun ^ation. The Mars Commissioning Phase and the Mars Routine Phase are therefore divided into a number of science subphases using various combinations of Sun ^ations and available downlink bit rates. The discrete downlink rates available throughout the nominal mission are: - 28 kbits/seconds - 38 kbits/seconds - 45 kbits/seconds - 57 kbits/seconds - 76 kbits/seconds - 91 kbits/seconds - 114 kbits/seconds - 152 kbits/seconds - 182 kbits/seconds - 228 kbits/seconds The adopted Sun ^ation coding convention is as follows: - HSE for High Sun Elevation (> 60 degrees) - MSE for Medium Sun Elevation (between 20 and 60 degrees) - LSE for Low Sun Elevation (between -15 and 20 degrees) - NSE for Negative Sun Elevation (< -15 degrees) The science subphase naming convention is as follows: - Science Phase - Sun Elevation Code - Downlink Rate - Science Subphase Repetition Number The following tables gives the available Science Subphases: NAME START END ORBITS BIT SUN RATE ELE -------------------------------------------------------------MC Phase 0 2003-12-30 - 2004-01-13 1 - 16 MC Phase 1 2004-01-13 - 2004-01-28 17 - 58 114 59 MC Phase 2 2004-01-28 - 2004-02-12 59 - 105 91 69 MC Phase 3 2004-02-12 - 2004-03-15 106 - 208 76 71 MC Phase 4 2004-03-15 - 2004-04-06 209 - 278 57 51 MC Phase 5 2004-04-06 - 2004-04-20 279 - 320 45 33 MC Phase 6 2004-04-20 - 2004-06-04 321 - 475 38 22 MR Phase 1 2004-06-05 - 2004-08-16 476 - 733 28 -13 MR Phase 2 2004-08-16 - 2004-10-16 734 - 951 28 -26 MR Phase 3 2004-10-16 - 2005-01-07 952 - 1250 28 16 MR Phase 4 2004-01-08 - 2005-03-05 1251 - 1454 45 63 MR Phase 5 2004-03-05 - 2005-03-24 1455 - 1522 76 16 MR Phase 6 2004-03-25 - 2005-07-12 1523 - 1915 91 0 MR Phase 7 2005-07-13 - 2005-10-04 1916 - 2215 76 15 MR Phase 8 2005-10-05 - 2005-11-30 2216 - 2418 57 20 ME Phase 1 2005-12-01 - 2006-01-08 2419 - 2556 76 34 ME Phase 2 2006-01-08 - 2006-04-26 2557 - 2942 45 50 ME Phase 3 2006-04-26 - 2006-08-22 2943 - 3363 38 68 ME Phase 4 2006-08-22 - 2006-10-21 3364 - 3579 28 72 ME Phase 5 2006-10-22 - 2006-11-16 3580 - 3672 28 53 ME Phase 6 2006-11-17 - 2007-03-01 3673 - 4044 45 31 ME Phase 7 2007-03-01 - 2007-06-12 4045 - 4412 91 19 ME Phase 8 2007-06-12 - 2007-07-29 4413 - 4582 76 0 ME Phase 9 2007-07-29 - 2007-09-08 4583 - 4729 57 -23 ME Phase 10 2007-09-09 - 2007-11-18 4730 - 4983 45 -15 ME Phase 11 2007-11-19 - 2008-04-06 4984 - 5475 28 13 ME Phase 12 2008-04-07 - 2008-06-08 5476 - 5694 57 29 ME Phase 13 2008-06-08 - 2008-06-30 5695 - 5771 28 57 ME Phase 14 2008-06-30 - 2008-10-22 5772 - 6173 91 17 ME Phase 15 2008-10-23 - 2009-02-19 6174 - 6590 76 0 ME Phase 16 2009-02-19 - 2009-04-17 6591 - 6790 57 47 ME Phase 17 2009-04-17 - 2009-07-11 6791 - 7084 57 53 ME Phase 18 2009-07-11 - 2009-11-23 7085 - 7553 91 NULL ME Phase 19 2009-11-23 - 2010-01-29 7554 - 7788 228 NULL ME Phase 20 2010-01-29 - 2010-06-27 7789 - 8299 91 NULL ME Phase 21 2010-06-27 - 2010-10-24 8300 - 8720 57 NULL ME Phase 22 2010-10-24 - 2011-04-05 8721 - 9277 0 NULL ME Phase 23 2011-04-05 - 2011-08-24 9278 - 9762 57 NULL ME Phase 24 2011-08-24 - 2012-02-19 9763 - 10375 76 NULL ME Phase 25 2012-02-19 - 2012-05-18 10376 - 10680 228 NULL ME Phase 26 2012-05-18 - 2012-12-27 10681 - 11446 57 NULL ME Phase 27 2012-12-27 - 2013-03-23 11447 - 11743 57 NULL ME Phase 28 2013-03-23 - 2013-10-02 11744 - 12404 0 NULL ME Phase 29 2013-10-02 - 2014-01-17 12405 - 12771 76 NULL ME Phase 30 2014-01-17 - 2014-08-30 12772 - 13541 182 NULL ME Phase 31 2014-08-30 - 2015-01-01 13542 - 13960 91 NULL ME Phase 32 2015-01-01 - 2015-07-01 13961 - 14581 0 NULL ME Phase 33 2015-07-01 - 2016-01-01 14582 - 15213 45 NULL ME Phase 34 2016-01-01 - 2016-07-01 15214 - 15837 114 NULL ME Phase 35 2016-07-01 - 2017-01-01 15838 - 16468 114 NULL ME Phase 36 2017-01-01 - 2017-07-01 16469 - 17089 45 NULL ME Phase 37 2017-07-01 - 2018-01-01 17090 - 17721 0 NULL ME Phase 38 2018-01-01 - 2018-07-01 17722 - 18343 114 NULL ME Phase 39 2018-07-01 - 2019-01-01 18344 - 18975 182 NULL ME Phase 40 2019-01-01 - 2019-07-01 18976 - 19597 45 NULL ME Phase 41 2019-07-01 - 2020-01-01 19598 - 20230 0 NULL ME Phase 42 2020-01-01 - 2020-07-01 20231 - 20855 76 NULL ME Phase 43 2020-07-01 - 2021-01-01 20856 - 21487 228 NULL ME Phase 44 2021-01-01 - 2021-07-01 21488 - 22109 TBC NULL ME Phase 45 2021-07-01 - 2022-01-01 22110 - 22742 TBC NULL ME Phase 46 2022-01-01 - 2022-07-01 22743 - 23365 TBC NULL ME Phase 47 2022-07-01 - 2023-01-01 23366 - 23996 TBC NULL ME Phase 48 2023-01-01 - 2023-07-01 23997 - 24618 TBC NULL ME Phase 49 2023-07-01 - 2024-01-01 24619 - 25251 TBC NULL ME Phase 50 2024-01-01 - 2024-07-01 25252 - TBC TBC NULL The data rate is given in kbit per seconds and represents the minimal data rate during the subphase. The sun ^ation is given in degrees and represents the value at the beginning of the subphase. Detailed information on the science subphases can be found in MEX-EST-PL-13128.
