A dataset provided by the European Space Agency

Name MEX-M-ESOC-6-AUXILIARY-DATA
Mission MARS-EXPRESS
URL https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/ftp//pub/mirror/MARS-EXPRESS/AUX/MEX-M-ESOC-6-AUXILIARY-DATA-V1.0
DOI https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-zl819mv
Abstract Mars Express ESOC auxiliary data set containing orbit and attitude data plus additional ancillary information required for a better understanding of the Mars Express scientific data.
Description Data Set Overview ################# This data set includes the complete set of ancillary information for the Mars Express spacecraft in the form defined by ESOC (European Space Operations Centre). The ESOC auxiliary data contains geometric and other ancillary data needed to recover the full value of science instrument data. In particular ESOC data files provide spacecraft ephemerides, orientation and time correlation information, and sequence of events. Additionally pointing request information and star occultation events are provided in separate files. This data set is contained in a single virtual volume including data from all mission phases and covering from launch, 2003-06-02T19:18:21.799, through the end time of the latest spacecraft trajectory file supplied in the data set. Until the end of the spacecraft or mission lifespan, this data set is accumulating with new data added approximately every three to six months. Data Types ########## This data set contains the following data types: ATNM: file describing pointing, containing a transformation traditionally called the C-matrix which is used to determine time-tagged pointing (orientation) angles for a spacecraft. Instead of storing the C-matrix, the Mars Express attitude file contains discret quaternions. The attitude file is located under the DATA/ATNM directory in this data set. CMH: [TBW] EVTM: file type containing the most up to date events consistent with the orbit data form the ORHM and ORMM file types. For each event, one line of information is given. The event files are located under the DATA/EVTM directory in this data set. ORHM and ORMM: files containing ephemerides for the Mars Express spacecraft during the cruise phase and around Mars. They provide position and velocity, given in a Cartesian reference frame. Orbit data files are located under the DATA/ORBIT directory in this data set. PTR: files containing a complete definition of the attitude point...
Instrument AUX
Version V1.0
Mission Description 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 (Khazakstan) 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 scientifically 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 cont...
Creator Contact JORGE DIAZ DEL RIO
Date Published 2004-10-01T00:00:00Z
Publisher And Registrant European Space Agency
Credit Guidelines European Space Agency, 2004-10-01T00:00:00Z, MEX-M-ESOC-6-AUXILIARY-DATA, V1.0. https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-zl819mv