ESA announced the update of Mars Express' instrument MARSIS 19 years since the orbiter's launch in June 2003.
INAF that lead MARSIS' upgrade contrives to boost the quantity and quality of Mars Express' data transmission.
MARSIS of Mars Express is Receiving its First Update After 19 Years
Humans had been probing Mars for several years to examine its probability of carrying life. One of the European Space Agency's most inexpensive and prosperous missions, the Mars Express, the celebrated Mars orbiter that found signs of liquid water on the Martian planet, is now getting a huge software update. After 19 years, the European Space Agency finally announced this progressive movement.
The Mars Express, launched on June 2, 2003, 19 years ago, was the first mission from ESA to explore the Red Planet. The space shuttle has been revolving around the planet for nearly two decades, expanding the human understanding of liquid water on the Martian surface.
Its Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding or MARSIS is the instrument that will receive an upgrade. The device works by sending low-frequency radio waves toward the Earth through its 40-meter antenna. Through the software update, MARSIS will now acquire enhanced ease of use.
Almost two decades after its launch, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) mechanism on the Mars Express no longer performs on Microsoft Windows 98 software. Its reported system update will allow the orbiter to do a much more detailed survey of the surfaces of Mars and its moon Phobos.
In 2018, MARSIS' first significant scientific finding transpired when it stood instrumental in excavating a subsurface water reservoir on Mars. The water supply was buried 1.5 kilometers underneath ice and dust.
By orchestrating low-frequency radio waves toward the planet's surface via its 40-meter-long antenna, MARSIS could travel across and disseminate data on multiple layers of Mars's crust. After such, MARSIS has located three more water sources that disclosed multitudes of information on the planet's structure and geology.
Italian Research Institute-led Software Update Buildout
MARSIS's new software will consist of upgrades developed to improve its data resolution and processing. These advancements were designed to boost the amount and quality of data transmitted back to our planet. This new software is developed by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) team in Italy.
According to Andrea Cicchetti of INAF, who led the upgrade's development, the team relied on an intricate technique that stored a lot of high-resolution data and immediately filled the device's onboard memory. Cicchetti is the MARSIS deputy PI and operation manager at the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)
The deputy PI and operation manager also said that the updated software would enable them to switch the MARSIS on for five times as long and analyze a much more extensive area with each pass by discarding unnecessary data.
Through the upgrades, improved signal reception and onboard data processing would grow the quantity and quality of scientific data transmitted. It will also additionally scrap data that isn't required and give researchers more time and space to study the surface in every pass.
Since the previous information indicated the existence of liquid water near the south pole of Mars, the software update will have the potential to efficiently process comprehensive data that could verify the actuality of new water sources on the probed planet.
Colin Wilson, an ESA Mars Express scientist, expresses that the software upgrade seems like carrying a brand new tool on board Mars Express after almost 20 years since its takeoff.
NASA Orbiter Will Release One of The Last Rainbow-Colored Maps Soon
As scientists get a new look at Mars because of some upgrades, the NASA orbiter will soon release its last rainbow-colored maps.
NASA's Planetary Data System will be the one to release the first portions of the map.
For 16 years, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been mapping minerals on Mars with the help of the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, known as CRISM, which uses detectors to search for the residue of minerals that "form in the presence of water" on the Red Planet.
