Europa Jupiter System Mission and Marco Polo Mission: Italian participation in studies of laser altimeters for Jovian moons and asteroids exploration.

Abstract

CO.RI.S.T.A. (Consortium for Research on Advanced Remote Sensing Systems) is member of international science teams devoted to the studies of laser altimeters to fly on Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) and Marco Polo Mission, currently under study of ESAs Cosmic Vision program as L-class and M-class mission respectively. Both the studies will focus on the assessment of alternative technical approaches that would reduce the mass, size and power requirements. In particular a Single Photon Counting (SPC) device will be studied taking into account the robustness against false detections due to harsh radiation environment in the Jupiter system. Innovative technical aspects which will characterize the studies of laser altimeters in the scenarios of EJSM and MarcoPolo, which will permit us to make major contributions to the science goals of the two missions.