Laboratory Emission Spectra at 500°C at the Planetary Emissivity Laboratory at DLR in Berlin — Challenges, Challenges and Even More Challenges...

Kurzfassung

The Planetary Emissivity Laboratory at DLR in Berlin has a long standing expertise in providing spectral data of planetary analog materials. Based on this experience we decided 4 years ago to extend our laboratory capabilities to support mission to Venus and Mercury. Both planets exhibit surface temperatures up to 500°C and this extreme temperature range affects the spectral characteristics of the surface minerals. First test data obtained in support of the NASA MESSENGER misson to Mercury highlighted the need for high temperature measurements. The measurements will help to obtain meaningful interpretation of the remote sensing data not only from MESSENGER but also from VenusExpress, BepiColombo and Spitzer to name only a few. Here we are reporting about the challenges encountered in the last 4 years and our approach to mitigate them.