MARSIS deployment.

arkady · May 22, 2005

Nope. Nothing but "The operations to deploy the remaining two booms could be resumed in a few weeks, after a thorough analysis and investigation of the Boom 1 deployment characteristics. from ESA site Boom 1 was deployed 11th of May. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "The choice is the Universe, or nothing ... " - H.G Wells </div>

arkady · May 28, 2005

Bump. Still nothing. Givf rumours atleast! <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "The choice is the Universe, or nothing ... " - H.G Wells </div>

flynn · Jun 6, 2005

Still nothing, do you think they are worried about something? They may as well at least try the other antenas, they've extended the one they were worried would damage the craft. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

henryhallam · Jun 6, 2005

I emailed ESA a few days ago to ask about progress with MARSIS, and just now they replied to say that "Updates about the MARSIS deployment should be available this week at: www.esa.int/science " So stay tuned, I guess.

odysseus145 · Jun 7, 2005

Green light for the deployment of the second MARSIS boom Green light for the deployment of the second MARSIS boom 7 June 2005 Following in-depth analyses performed after the deployment of the first MARSIS antenna boom on board Mars Express, ESA has decided to proceed with the deployment of the second 20-metre antenna boom. The full operation will be performed during a time frame starting 13 June and nominally ending on 21 June. A delay in the execution of the second boom deployment was necessary, due to problems encountered with the first deployment in early May this year. During the deployment, one of the antenna hinges (the tenth) got stuck in an unlocked position. Analysis of data obtained from earlier ground testing suggested a potential solution. The Mars Express spacecraft control team at ESA’s Spacecraft Operations Centre (ESOC) succeeded in unblocking the hinge by exposing the cold side of the boom to the Sun. This warmed the hinges and the boom quickly became unstuck. In the end, the first boom deployment was completed on 10 May. The lessons learnt during the first boom deployment were used to run new simulations and determine a new deployment scenario for the second boom. This scenario contains an additional sun-heating phase, to get the best possible thermal conditions for all hinges. The deployment of the third (7-metre) third MARSIS boom is not considered critical. It will be commanded only once the ESA ground control team have re-acquired signal from the spacecraft, and made sure with a sequence of tests that the second boom is correctly locked into position and the spacecraft is well under control. After this event MARSIS, the Mars Express Sub-Surface Radar Altimeter, will enter into a commissioning phase for the next few weeks, before starting to look at Mars’s ionosphere during martian daylight, <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

arkady · Jun 7, 2005

Hooray! <fingers crossed /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "The choice is the Universe, or nothing ... " - H.G Wells </div>

flynn · Jun 7, 2005

Great news. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

nacnud · Jun 7, 2005

may I just take the time to say w00t thanks

toymaker · Jun 14, 2005

So has the deployment started ?

flynn · Jun 14, 2005

Checked 20,000 news sources and nothing since the 8th. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

centsworth_II · Jun 14, 2005

Hopefully we will hear on the 21st that the second boom has been successfully deployed. I guess we won't be getting progress updates before then. Word that the operation has in fact begun would be nice though. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

alpha_centauri · Jun 15, 2005

wOOt!! BBC, Wednesday, 15 June, 2005, 13:26 GMT 14:26 UK Second Marsis radar boom deployed The second of three radar booms has been deployed on Europe's Mars Express spacecraft - but it is unclear whether the operation has been successful. If the deployment went smoothly the Marsis experiment could begin its search for water on Mars within a week. The antennas are part of the Marsis instrument, which will look beneath the Red Planet's surface for what are expected to be vast reserves of water. Marsis is able to search for water up to 5km (3 miles) below the Red Planet. On Tuesday, mission controllers at the European Space Agency's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, released the second of two identical, 20m-long (65ft) booms which comprise Marsis' primary antenna. They performed a series of manoeuvres designed to heat the boom evenly in sunlight before reorienting the spacecraft towards Earth so it could begin transmitting data. Controllers should know whether the operation was a success by tomorrow. The antenna boom had been folded up inside the spacecraft since launch in June 2003. The command sent from Earth fired a pyrotechnic mechanism on the spacecraft that causes the boom to spring out like a "jack-in-the-box". Deployment of the third and final boom in the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (Marsis) is planned for 17 June, but the experiment can operate without it. Marsis could begin collecting data on 21 June, as part of its initial commissioning phase. The first boom was deployed in May, but mission controllers later discovered that it had not completely straightened out. Swinging the orbiter round to warm the boom's cold parts in sunlight sorted out the problem. Article from the BBC LINK

flynn · Jun 16, 2005

Cheers, nothing on ESA Portal yet but I guess they are waiting for confirmation <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

flynn · Jun 16, 2005

NewScientistSpace, The second of two identical radar booms has been deployed on Europe's Mars Express spacecraft - but it is not yet clear if the operation was successful. If it was, the antenna could begin scouting for underground water on Mars within a week. Mission managers in Darmstadt, Germany, deployed the 20-metre-long boom on 14 June at 1130 GMT. After a series of manoeuvres designed to warm the boom evenly in sunshine, the spacecraft reoriented itself towards Earth about two hours later and began beaming data to mission control. "It's always good to see your spacecraft back under control," says Fred Jansen, the spacecraft's mission manager. "But we know from the first boom’s deployment that this does not tell the full story, so we are not declaring the operation successful yet." That first boom in the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) experiment popped out of its storage box on 4 May. But a few days later, engineers discovered one of its outer hinges had failed to lock into place during deployment, leaving a slight kink in the antenna. Mission managers suspected the coldness of space played a role in the problem, so on 10 May they exposed the crooked boom to the Sun for a few minutes. The warming trick worked - the boom straightened and locked in place - but an analysis showed the spacecraft itself could become unstable if a kink were to occur on an inner segment of the second boom. So mission planners postponed the deployment of that boom - which is crucial for the instrument to function - to study the issue. Hinge heater In deploying boom 2, mission managers set Mars Express rotating very slowly with the stored boom facing generally towards the Sun. Then, they deployed the boom and kept rotating the spacecraft so that, in half an hour, the boom rotated through 180 degrees. "So if you assume a hinge is at an angle somewhere, the Sun would illuminate all th <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

thechemist · Jun 16, 2005

Beat ya this time flynn !! Smooth deployment for second MARSIS antenna boom "The complete success of the operation was announced today at 14:00 CEST, when the ground team had completed all tests on the spacecraft systems. This confirmed that the spacecraft is in optimal shape and under control, with the second MARSIS boom straight and locked into the correct position."/safety_wrapper> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> I feel better than James Brown. </div>

arkady · Jun 16, 2005

Great news. Can't wait to see some data. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "The choice is the Universe, or nothing ... " - H.G Wells </div>

spacester · Jun 16, 2005

Excellent news. I want that third boom, though. My understanding is that it will allow much more certainty in the data in terms of depth accuracy. I want to know how deep we need to drill. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

flynn · Jun 16, 2005

Doh, I was out playing Snooker. Here's another story, just for luck. http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/second_marsis_boom_deployed.html <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

chris_in_space · Jun 17, 2005

These are really great news. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Hope the 3rd one will be a success too. It's going to be today... <img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />

flynn · Jun 22, 2005

Chemist, I win. Mars Express completes radar deployment 19:00 21 June 2005 NewScientist.com news service Maggie McKee The third - and final - radar boom has been deployed aboard Europe's Mars Express spacecraft, clearing the way for scientists to begin searching for water beneath the Red Planet's surface. Mission managers in Darmstadt, Germany, deployed the 7-metre-long boom on 17 June at 1400 GMT. So far, engineers have not been able to detect the deployment's tiny effect on the spacecraft's gyroscopes, which measure its rotation, to see if the boom deployed straight. But the spacecraft is functioning normally and mission managers see the lack of a signal from the third boom as a good sign. "If you can't find it, then it can't harm the mission," mission manager Fred Jansen told New Scientist. But to be sure, engineers will fire the spacecraft's thrusters periodically on Tuesday to search for a signal in the craft's recoil, a process Jansen likens to "looking for a needle in a haystack". No special precautions were taken in deploying this boom which, at just 7 m long, was expected to pop out with less energy than the first two booms, which each measure 20 m long. With those booms, Mars Express was turned so the Sun heated and straightened the booms - a procedure put in place after a hinge on the first boom's failed to lock into place during a "cold" deployment. The third boom completes the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) instrument and mission managers will begin two weeks of tests on Thursday. Avoiding confusion During this commissioning phase, engineers will make sure the antenna does not produce "interference" with the spacecraft's other electronic instruments - similar to a ringing mobile phone disturbing the reception of a nearby TV. In the coming weeks, MARSIS will look at Mars’s northern latitudes - where the planet's flat no <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

chris_in_space · Jun 22, 2005

That's excellent news!!! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Now we will be able to find that Mars has underground water evreywhere at just 5m under the surface and it will open up a new era with the begining of colonization of Mars! Youpiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii... Ok enough euphoria, I just hope that the third boom is really out there in place since they havn't been able to mesure it's effect on the space craft's gyroscopes...

no_way · Jun 22, 2005

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />Now we will be able to find that Mars has underground water evreywhere at just 5m under the surface and it will open up a new era with the begining of colonization of Mars!<hr /></blockquote> From what i understand, the radar data alone will be very much subject to interpretation. I dont think they'll be able to tell with any high degree of confidence what exactly they are finding underground. Accompanying spectrometer data ( OMEGA ) might help it a bit but it works on surface only if i understand correctly.

chris_in_space · Jun 22, 2005

I'm far from being an expert in these fields but I think we will be able to interprete the data. I mean this was an instrument chosen to be mounted on Mars Express and it was in competition with many others. I don't think it would have been chosen to take part of the spacecraft if the designers of the instrument would have had good arguments to show that their instrument will really work. Btw sort of same instruments, used to find oil, also delivered weird results hard to interprete until we actually learned to interprete them. I really think we will be able to interprete the signals maybe not immediatly but even if it takes some years it would still be great. Also Mars Express still is the best probe out there which can help us find out if there's water under the martian surface.

thechemist · Jun 22, 2005

Flynn, This was the sweetest defeat I have ever suffered <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Let the scans begin ! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> I feel better than James Brown. </div>

flynn · Jun 22, 2005

From ESAPortal <center>Mars Express radar ready to work</center> <hr /> 22 June 2005 ESA PR 34-2005. MARSIS, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding on board ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, is now fully deployed, has undergone its first check-out and is ready to start operations around the Red Planet. With this radar, the Mars Express orbiter at last has its full complement of instruments available to probe the planet’s atmosphere, surface and subsurface structure. MARSIS consists of three antennas: two ‘dipole’ booms 20 metres long, and one 7-metre ‘monopole’ boom oriented perpendicular to the first two. Its importance is that it is the first-ever means of looking at what may lie below the surface of Mars. The delicate three-stage phase of radar boom deployment, and all the following tests to verify spacecraft integrity, took place between 2 May and 19 June. Deployment of the first boom was completed on 10 May. That boom, initially stuck in unlocked mode, was later released by exploiting solar heating of its hinges. Taking advantage of the lessons learnt from that first boom-deployment, the second 20-metre boom was successfully deployed on 14 June. Subsequently, ESA’s ground team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, commanded the non-critical deployment of the third boom on 17 June, which proceeded smoothly as planned. MARSIS’s ability to transmit radio waves in space was tried out for the first time on 19 June, when the instrument was switched on and performed a successful transmission test. The instrument works by sending a coded stream of radio waves towards Mars at night, and analysing their distinctive echoes. From this, scientists can then make deductions about the surface and subsurface structure. The key search is for water. But MARSIS's capabilities do not <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - Chuck Palahniuk. </div>

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