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MENCA experiment aboard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission


Affiliations
1 Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
 

The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) aboard the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is a quadrupole mass spectrometer-based experiment. Making use of the highly elliptical and low inclination (~150°) orbit of MOM, MENCA will conduct in situ measurements of the composition and radial distribution of the Martian neutral exosphere in the 1–300 amu mass range in the equatorial and low latitudes of Mars. The functionality of MENCA has been tested during the Earth-bound and heliocentric phases of MOM before its operation in the Martian orbit. This article describes the scientific objectives, instrument details, design and development, test and evaluation, and calibration of the MENCA instrument.

Keywords

Exosphere, Mars Orbiter, mass spectrometer, thermal escape.
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  • MENCA experiment aboard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission

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Authors

Anil Bhardwaj
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
S. V. Mohankumar
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Tirtha Pratim Das
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
P. Pradeepkumar
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
P. Sreelatha
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
B. Sundar
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Amarnath Nandi
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Dinakar Prasad Vajja
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
M. B. Dhanya
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Neha Naik
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
G. Supriya
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
R. Satheesh Thampi
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
G. Padma Padmanabhan
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
Vipin K. Yadav
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India
A. V. Aliyas
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India

Abstract


The Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) aboard the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is a quadrupole mass spectrometer-based experiment. Making use of the highly elliptical and low inclination (~150°) orbit of MOM, MENCA will conduct in situ measurements of the composition and radial distribution of the Martian neutral exosphere in the 1–300 amu mass range in the equatorial and low latitudes of Mars. The functionality of MENCA has been tested during the Earth-bound and heliocentric phases of MOM before its operation in the Martian orbit. This article describes the scientific objectives, instrument details, design and development, test and evaluation, and calibration of the MENCA instrument.

Keywords


Exosphere, Mars Orbiter, mass spectrometer, thermal escape.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv109%2Fi6%2F1106-1113