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Periodic Orbits for Sounding Mars’ Atmosphere by Down- and Limb-Looking Measurements

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Abstract

The Periodic Multi-Sun-Synchronous Orbit allows the planning of observational cycles in which the solar illumination of the observed planet varies regularly, and returns to the initial condition at the beginning of each cycle. In the classical down-looking geometry of observation, this leads to the possibility of reconstructing the temporal evolution of all planetary parameters that are characterised by a typical variation in the solar day. In this paper, such an orbit is proposed to analyse the evolution of Mars’ atmosphere time-varying parameters taking into account, in addition to the down-looking configuration, a limb-looking geometry that works with a solar occultation technique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Salaria 851, 00138, Rome, Italy

    Emiliano Ortore, Luca Spazzacampagna & Christian Circi

  2. School of Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Salaria 881, 00138, Rome, Italy

    Giovanni Laneve

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  1. Emiliano Ortore
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  2. Luca Spazzacampagna
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  3. Giovanni Laneve
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  4. Christian Circi
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Correspondence to Emiliano Ortore.

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Ortore, E., Spazzacampagna, L., Laneve, G. et al. Periodic Orbits for Sounding Mars’ Atmosphere by Down- and Limb-Looking Measurements. J Astronaut Sci 66, 460–474 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-019-00161-8

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