Abstract
The first of the two missions foreseen in the ExoMars program was successfully launched on 14th March 2016. It included the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli Entry descent and landing Demonstrator Module. Schiaparelli hosted the DREAMS instrument suite that was the only scientific payload designed to operate after the touchdown. DREAMS is a meteorological station with the capability of measuring the electric properties of the Martian atmosphere. It was a completely autonomous instrument, relying on its internal battery for the power supply. Even with low resources (mass, energy), DREAMS would be able to perform novel measurements on Mars (atmospheric electric field) and further our understanding of the Martian environment, including the dust cycle. DREAMS sensors were designed to operate in a very dusty environment, because the experiment was designed to operate on Mars during the dust storm season (October 2016 in Meridiani Planum). Unfortunately, the Schiaparelli module failed part of the descent and the landing and crashed onto the surface of Mars. Nevertheless, several seconds before the crash, the module central computer switched the DREAMS instrument on, and sent back housekeeping data indicating that the DREAMS sensors were performing nominally. This article describes the instrument in terms of scientific goals, design, working principle and performances, as well as the results of calibration and field tests. The spare model is mature and available to fly in a future mission.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Italian Space Agency through the agreement I/018/12/0: “DREAMS EDM Payload ExoMars 2016.” The development of the DREAMS instrument was funded and coordinated by ASI.
DREAMS is the result of a cooperation of six European Countries (Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, United Kingdom) led by Italy. DREAMS is built by UPD-CISAS with contribution from LATMOS/FMI/INTA/Oxford University/INAF-OAC, operated by INAF-OAC/UPD-CISAS and provided by ASI.
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ExoMars-16
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Appendix
Appendix
List of Acronyms
- AC:
-
Alternating Current
- ADC:
-
Analog to Digital Converter
- AM0:
-
Air Mass 0
- CEU:
-
Central Electronic Unit
- CFD:
-
Computational Fluid Dynamics
- COTS:
-
Commercial-Of-The-Shelf
- CPU:
-
Central Processing Unit
- DC:
-
Direct Current
- DREAMS:
-
Dust characterization, Risk assessment and Environment Analyzer on the Martian Surface
- DSP:
-
Digital Signal Processor
- EDM:
-
Entry descent and landing Demonstrator Module
- E-field:
-
Electric field
- ESA:
-
European Space Agency
- FM:
-
Flight Model
- FMI:
-
Finnish Meteorological Institute
- FoV:
-
Field of View
- FPGA:
-
Field-Programmable Gate Array
- FS:
-
Flight Spare
- HK:
-
Housekeeping
- INTA:
-
Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
- ISO:
-
International Standards Organization
- LTST:
-
Local True Solar Time
- MCU:
-
Microcontroller Unit
- MEMS:
-
Micro Electro-Mechanical System
- MSL:
-
Mars Science Laboratory
- MTL:
-
Mission TimeLine
- NASA:
-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- NIR:
-
Near Infrared
- OBDH:
-
On-Board Data Handling
- OD:
-
Optical Depth
- OH:
-
Optical Head
- P1/P2:
-
DREAMS Pressure Sensor 1/2
- PCB:
-
Printed Circuit Board
- PDS4:
-
Planetary Data System version 4
- PE:
-
Processing Electronics
- PTFE:
-
Polytetrafluoroethylene
- RDS:
-
Radiation and Dust Sensor
- REF:
-
Ground reference model
- REMS:
-
Rover Environmental Monitoring Station
- RH:
-
Relative Humidity
- RTD:
-
Resistance Temperature Detector
- SIS:
-
Solar Irradiance Sensor
- SNR:
-
Signal to Noise Ratio
- SPASOLAB:
-
Space Solar Cell Test Laboratory
- SSW:
-
Sensor SWitch sequence
- SZA:
-
Solar Zenith Angle
- TID:
-
Total ionizing Dose
- TGO:
-
Trace Gas Orbiter
- TVT:
-
Thermal Vacuum Test
- UHF:
-
Ultra High Frequency
- UTC:
-
Universal Time Coordinated
- UV:
-
UltraViolet
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Esposito, F., Debei, S., Bettanini, C. et al. The DREAMS Experiment Onboard the Schiaparelli Module of the ExoMars 2016 Mission: Design, Performances and Expected Results. Space Sci Rev 214, 103 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0535-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0535-0