Fachbereich 14 - Geowissenschaften
Institut für Planetologie
Experimentelle Weltraumforschung

HP3: A Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe for Mercury

ESA's BepiColombo Mission to Mercury includes the 'Mercury Surface Element'(MSE) to land a scientific payload on the surface of Mercury. We propose a Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP 3) that can go beyond the instrument package characterized in the strawman payload. The package will measure key thermal and mechanical properties of the near-surface material (down to a depth of 2-5 m) as well as the heat flow from Mercury's interior, an important constraining parameter for models of the planet's interior and evolution. In addition, the package will be used to chemically and mineralogically characterize the regolith material and search for volatiles. We currently study the HP 3 experiment package and its possible accommodation in a self-inserting 'mole' device. A mole is considered to be the most appropriate deployment method for HP 3, at least in the currently-assumed case of an airbag-assisted soft landing architecture for the Mercury Surface Element. In order to achieve an optimum instrument design, we furthermore study the thermal environment at and below the surface of Mercury, and derive design requirements from the results of these studies.

Beteiligte Wissenschaftler:

Prof. Dr. Tilman Spohn, Dr. Karsten Seiferlin, Dipl. Ing. Riccardo Nadalini

Veröffentlichungen:

Seiferlin, K., Spohn, T. and Hagermann, A. and Banaszkiewicz, M.: A concept for a powerful heat flow and thermal properties probe. . Presentedat the European Geophysical Society, Nice, 25-29 April 2000. Abstract in GeophysicalResearch Abstracts (on CDROM), 2, PS2., 2000.

Spohn, T., A. J. Ball, V. Conzelmann,A. Hagermann, and K. Seiferlin 2000: A heat flow and physical properties packagefor the surface of Mercury. Geophysical Research Abstracts (on CDROM), 2, PS2.

Spohn,T., Ball, A. J., Seiferlin, K., Conzelmann, V., Hagermann, A., Kömle, N. I.and Kargl, G.: A Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package for the Surface of Mercury.Planet. Space Sci. 49(14/15), 1571-1577, 2001

Spohn, T., Seiferlin, K., Ball, A. J., Kömle, N. I., Kargl, G. and Hagermann, A.: The HP3 Package for the BepiColomboLander. Presented at the European Geophysical Society, Nice, 25-30 April 2001. Abstractin Geophys. Res. Abstracts 3, 7369, 2001

Spohn, T. and the HP3 team, 2003: A Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package for the BepiColombo MSE. Poster PS027at the European Geophysical Society, Nice, 21-26 April 2002. Abstract EGS02-A-05285in Geophys. Res. Abstracts 4