Author/Authors :
Thomas، نويسنده , , N. and Spohn، نويسنده , , T. and Barriot، نويسنده , , J.-P. and Benz، نويسنده , , W. and Beutler، نويسنده , , G. and Christensen، نويسنده , , U. and Dehant، نويسنده , , V. and Fallnich، نويسنده , , C. and Giardini Guidoni، نويسنده , , D. and Groussin، نويسنده , , O. and Gunderson، نويسنده , , K. and Hauber، نويسنده , , E. and Hilchenbach، نويسنده , , M. and Iess، نويسنده , , L. and Lamy، نويسنده , , P. and Lara، نويسنده , , L.-M. a، نويسنده ,
Abstract :
The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) has been selected for flight on board the European Space Agencyʹs BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO). The experiment is intended to be Europeʹs first planetary laser altimeter system. Although the proposed system has similarities to the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) currently flying on board NASAʹs MESSENGER mission to Mercury, the specific orbit and construction of the MPO force the use of novel concepts for BELA. Furthermore, the base-lined range-finding approach is novel. In this paper, we describe the BELA system and show preliminary results from some prototype testing.
Keywords :
BepiColombo , mercury , Instrument design , Laser altimetry
