Application of MAVEN Accelerometer and Attitude Control Data to Mars Atmospheric Characterization

Abstract

The structure of the upper atmosphere of Mars (above ∼100 km) has been probed in situ mainly using spacecraft accelerometers during the aerobraking phases of 3 Mars orbiters. In a similar manner, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) Accelerometer Experiment (ACC) will also use atmospheric drag accelerations sensed by inertial measurement units (IMU) onboard the spacecraft to recover atmospheric density along the orbiter path. These densities are used to estimate hydrostatic ‘vertical’ density and temperature profiles, along track and altitudinal density waves, and latitudinal and longitudinal density variations. The IMU accelerometer signal-to-noise should permit profile reconstructions from spacecraft periapsis, nominally at 150 km altitude, to ∼170 km, an altitude range nominally spanning densities of 0.05–0.15 kg/km³. However, in situ measurements over a much greater altitude range, down to ∼125 km (reaching densities of ∼2–3.5 kg/km³), can be made during each of five week-long “Deep Dip” (DD) campaigns, and these are the prime focus of the Accelerometer Experiment. Judicious choice of the timing of these Deep-Dip campaigns during the MAVEN periapsis progression through local time, latitude and longitude in both hemispheres and in different seasons will add significantly to the existing data base of lower thermospheric densities. Other IMU and attitude control data may be used to estimate torques in order to improve the atmospheric density analysis, especially in the higher altitudes of the nominal science orbit, and, more challengingly, to estimate cross-track winds during the Deep-Dips.