Antarctic Field-Tests of a Mars Boundary Layer Sounding Balloon

Kurzfassung

Measurements of the state and the variability of the Martian atmosphere are high priority investigations for the upcoming years. Balloon-borne instruments could bridge the gap in both temporal and spatial resolution in mesoscale distances between local, stationary landers and global orbiter observations. Although balloon concepts are not new in essence, related developments profit today mainly from the technological advance in micro-electronics and sensor miniaturization which enables designing a balloon-probe significantly smaller than earlier proposed systems. The balloon probe uses an automatic launch off a lander payload deck (a feature which was not part of the analogue test campaign). A development model of the balloon probe and its sensor suite has been built and tested in an analogue environment in Antarctica. The scientific concept of operations, the flight test hardware and field test realization are described subsequently.