First Results of Mars Express
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Mutual Radio Occultation
Jacob Parrott (Imperial College London)
L.H. Svedhem (TU Delft - Astrodynamics & Space Missions)
O. Witasse (European Space Agency (ESA))
Colin Wilson (European Space Agency (ESA))
Ingo Müller-Wodarg (Imperial College London)
Alejandro Cardesín-Moinelo (Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaço, European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC))
Peter Schmitz (European Space Operations Centre)
James Godfrey (European Space Operations Centre)
Olivier Reboud (European Space Operations Centre)
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Abstract
Spacecraft-to-spacecraft radio occultations experiments are being conducted at Mars between Mars Express (MEX) and Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), the first ever extensive inter-spacecraft occultations at a planet other than Earth. Here we present results from the first 83 such occultations, conducted between 2 Nov 2020 and 5th of July 2023. Of these, 44 observations have to-date resulted in the extraction of vertical electron density profiles. These observations are the successful results of a major feasibility study conducted by the European Space Agency to use pre-existing relay communication equipment for radio science purposes. Mutual radio occultations have numerous advantages over traditional spacecraft-to-ground station occultations. In this work, we demonstrate how raw data are transformed into electron density values and validated with models and other instruments.
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