Gravity, Geodesy and Fundamental Physics with BepiColombo's MORE Investigation

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • L. Iess - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • S. W. Asmar - , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Author)
  • P. Cappuccio - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • G. Cascioli - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • F. De Marchi - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • I. di Stefano - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • A. Genova - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • N. Ashby - , National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (Author)
  • J. P. Barriot - , University of French Polynesia (Author)
  • P. Bender - , University of Colorado Boulder (Author)
  • C. Benedetto - , Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome, Italy 0000-0001-7456-3250 (Author)
  • J. S. Border - , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Author)
  • F. Budnik - , European Space Agency - ESA (Author)
  • S. Ciarcia - , Thales Alenia Space, Rome, Italy (Author)
  • T. Damour - , Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures sur Yvette, France 0000-0003-4519-6265 (Author)
  • V. Dehant - , Royal Observatory of Belgium (Author)
  • G. Di Achille - , INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico d'Abruzzo, Teramo, Italy 0000-0002-2151-4057 (Author)
  • A. Di Ruscio - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • A. Fienga - , Université Côte d'Azur (Author)
  • R. Formaro - , University of Colorado Boulder (Author)
  • S. Klioner - , Research Group for Astronomy (Author)
  • A. Konopliv - , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Author)
  • A. Lemaître - , Universite de Namur (Author)
  • F. Longo - , University of Colorado Boulder (Author)
  • M. Mercolino - , European Space Agency - ESA (Author)
  • G. Mitri - , University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara (Author)
  • V. Notaro - , Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza (Author)
  • A. Olivieri - , Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome, Italy (Author)
  • M. Paik - , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Author)
  • A. Palli - , University of Bologna (Author)
  • G. Schettino - , IFAC, Istituto di Fisica Applicata, CNR, Florence, Italy 0000-0003-0819-5052 (Author)
  • D. Serra - , Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy 0000-0001-9769-697X (Author)
  • L. Simone - , Thales Alenia Space, Rome, Italy (Author)
  • G. Tommei - , Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy 0000-0002-9593-613X (Author)
  • P. Tortora - , University of Bologna (Author)
  • T. Van Hoolst - , Royal Observatory of Belgium (Author)
  • D. Vokrouhlický - , Charles University Prague (Author)
  • M. Watkins - , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Author)
  • X. Wu - , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Author)
  • M. Zannoni - , University of Bologna (Author)

Abstract

The Mercury Orbiter Radio Science Experiment (MORE) of the ESA mission BepiColombo will provide an accurate estimation of Mercury's gravity field and rotational state, improved tests of general relativity, and a novel deep space navigation system. The key experimental setup entails a highly stable, multi-frequency radio link in X and Ka band, enabling two-way range rate measurements of 3 micron/s at nearly all solar elongation angles. In addition, a high chip rate, pseudo-noise ranging system has already been tested at 1-2 cm accuracy. The tracking data will be used together with the measurements of the Italian Spring Accelerometer to provide a pseudo drag free environment for the data analysis. We summarize the existing literature published over the past years and report on the overall configuration of the experiment, its operations in cruise and at Mercury, and the expected scientific results.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number21
JournalSpace science reviews
Volume217
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85100672209

Keywords

Keywords

  • Mercury, Radio science, Planetary geodesy, Relativistic gravity, Spacecraft tracking systems