Open Access
Subscription Access
Lyman Alpha Photometer: a far-ultraviolet sensor for the study of hydrogen isotope ratio in the Martian exosphere
The Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), developed for flight on the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft in 2013, is primarily designed to measure deuterium to hydrogen abundance ratio of the Martian exosphere over a 6-month period from a 263 km × 71,358 km elliptical orbit around Mars. A set of ultrapure (99.999%) hydrogen and deuterium gas-filled cells comprising tungsten filaments, a 25 mm diameter collection lens and a solar-blind photomultiplier tube together with an 8 nm bandpass Lyman alpha filter are the principal electro-optical assemblies of the instrument. This article presents scientific objectives of LAP and its performance specifications along with details of instrument design. The ground characterization techniques to assess LAP operational performance are also presented. End-to-end test results and evaluation matrix of LAP were satisfactory, well within the desired specifications. The first LAP onboard operation was carried out during the cruise phase of MOM spacecraft journey to verify its functionality and all recorded on-board health parameters were satisfactory.
Keywords
Absorption gas cell, hydrogen isotope ratio, Martian exosphere, photometer
User
Font Size
Information
- Velbel, M., Phoenix first to see silt grains on Mars. Nature, 2012,481(7379), 29–29.
- Williams, H. R. et al., Mars reconnaissance lander: vehicle and missiondesign. Planet. Space Sci., 2011, 59, 1621–1631.
- Arvidson, R. E. et al., Spirit Mars Rover Mission: overview and selectedresults from the northern Home Plate Winter Haven to the sideof Scamander crater. J. Geophys. Res. – Planets, 2010, 115, ArticleNumber: E00F03.
- Grant, M. J., Steinfeldt, B. A., Braun, R. D. and Barton, G. H., Smartdivert: a new Mars robotic entry, descent, and landing architecture. J. Spacecraft Rockets, 2010, 47, 385–393.
- Ball, A. J., Price, M. E., Walker, R. J., Dando, G. C., Wells, N. S. andZarnecki, J. C., Mars Phobos and Deimos Survey (M-PADS) – AMartian Moons orbiter and Phobos lander. Adv. Space Res.,2009, 43, 120–127.
- Goerke, D., Mission to Mars: 2025: What We Can Do, iUniverse, Inc. 2007, vol. I; ISBN:9780595415878.
- Nair, R. P., Saviour, L. T. and Ponraj, N., A comparative analysis andstudy on Martian satellites. Int. J. Eng. Trends Technol., 2014, 9, 262–266.
- Edberg, N. J. T. et al., Pumping out the atmosphere of Mars throughsolar wind pressure pulses. Geophys. Res. Lett., 2010, 37.
- Valeille, A., Combi, M. R., Bougher, S. W., Tenishev, V. and Nagy, A. F., Three-dimensional study of Mars upper thermosphere/ ionosphereand hot oxygen corona: 2. Solar cycle, seasonal variations, and evolution over history. J. Geophys. Res., 2009, 114, E11006; doi:10.1029/2009JE003389.
- Gillmann, C., Lognonne, P., Chassefiere, E. and Moreira, M., The present-day atmosphere of Mars: where does it come from? Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2009, 277, 384–393.
- Machacek, J. R. et al., Production of excited atomic hydrogen and deuteriumfrom H2, HD and D2 photodissociation. J. Phys. B, At Mol. Opt. Phys., 2011, 44, 045201 (7 pp).
- McKechnie, A. E., Wolf, B. O. and Martínez del Rio, C., Deuterium stableisotope ratios as tracers of water resource use: an experimentaltest with rock doves. Oecologia, 2004, 140, 191–200; doi:10.1007/s00442-004-1564-9.
- Owen, T., Maillard, J. P., Debergh, C. and Lutz, B., Deuterium on Mars: the abundance of HDO and the value of D/H. Science, 1988, 240, 1767–1770.
- Bjoraker, G. L., Mumma, M. J. and Larson, H. P., Isotopic abundance ratiosfor hydrogen and oxygen in the Martian atmosphere. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc., 1989, 21, 991.
- Korablev, O. I., Ackerman, M., Krasnopolsky, V. A., Moroz, V. I., Muller, C., Rodin, A. V. and Atreya, S. K., Tentative identification offormaldehyde in the Martian atmosphere. Planet. Space Sci., 1993, 41, 441–451.
- Watson, L. L., Hutcheon, I. D., Epstein, S. and Stolper, E. M., D/H ratios and water contents of amphiboles in magmatic inclusions inChassigny and Shergotty. Meteoritics, 1993, 28, 456.
- Esposito, L. W., Colwell, J. E. and McClintock, W. E., Cassini UVISobservations of Saturn’s rings. Planet. Space Sci., 1998, 46,1221–1235.
- Formisano, V., Grassi, D., Ignatiev, N., Zasova, L. and Maturilli, A., PFS for Mars Express: a new approach to study Martian atmosphere. Adv. Space Res., 2002, 29, 131–142.
- Ito, Yuichi and Fukunish, Hiroshi, A deuterium/hydrogen Lyman alphaabsorption cell photometer developed for the Nozomi spacecraft. TohokuGeophys. J., 2006, 37, 2, 109–123.
- Maki, J., Lawrence, G., Esposito, L., Lauche, H. and Ludwig, M., TheCassini hydrogen deuterium absorption cell: a remote sensing instrumentfor atomic D/H measurements at Titan. Bull. Am.Astron. Soc., 1996, 28, 1132.
- Babichenko, S. I. et al., Measurements in interplanetary space and inthe Martian upper atmosphere with a hydrogen absorption-cell spectrophotometerfor La-radiation on board Mars 4-7 spaceprobes. SpaceSci. Instrum., 1977, 3, 271–286.
- Sridhar Raja, V. L. N. et al., Design and engineering aspects of a compactLyman alpha photometer (LAP) for in situ measurements ofD/H ratio in Martian atmosphere. In 39th COSPAR ScientificAssembly, Mysore, India, C1.1-56-12, 2012, p. 1558.
- Eberhardt, P., Reber, M., Krankowsky, D. and Hodges, R. R., The D/H and 18O16/O ratios in water from comet P/Halley. Astron. Astrophys., 1995, 302, 301–316.
- Bockelée-Morvan, D. et al., Deuterated water in comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) and its implications for the origin of comets. Icarus,1998, 193, 147–162.
- Lécuyer, C., Gillet, Ph. and Robert, F., The hydrogen isotope composition ofsea water and the global water cycle. Chem. Geol.,1998, 145, 249–261.
- Kawahara, T. D., Okano, S., Abe, T., Fukunishi, H. and Ito, K., Glass-type hydrogen and deuterium absorption cells developed for DyHratio measurements in the Martian atmosphere. Appl. Opt.,1997, 36, 2229–2237.
- Kawahara, T. D. et al., Development of hydrogen and deuterium absorptioncells for D/H ratio measurements of planetary atmospheres. TohokuGeophys. J., 1993, 34, 35–54.
Abstract Views: 432
PDF Views: 150