Mars Science Research AT ESA

The ESA Science community at ESAC and ESTEC works collectively on various international research projects related to planet Mars, taking advantage of the sinergies between Mars Express, ExoMars, Mars Sample Return and other Mars missions and studies. Current activities cover a wide range of scientific topics from Martial geology (interior, subsurface and surface), Martian atmosphere (clouds, dust storms, trace gases, ionosphere, ...), interaction of the Martian magnetosphere with the Solar wind and finally both Martian moons (Phobos and Deimos).

The main goal is to support the international Mars science community through research collaborations with various external institutions, in support of the current missions and preparations for future missions to Mars, led by ESA and/or other international agencies (NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, CNSA, UAE ...).
 

Science Collaborations:

Current international collaborations and research projects include:

 - Mars-Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter coordinated observations (BIRA, Latmos, IKI, ISSI, DLR, etc..) 

 - Mars Radio Science mutual occultation science and data processing (TU Deft, Imperial College, Univ. Trieste)

 - Mars Wind and Wave Mapping (IA Lisbon, VLT, IAA, DLR Berlin, ...)

 - Mars ionospheric and magnetospheric studies in comparison with other solar system bodies (Leicester Univ., ...)

 - Phobos landing site working group and moon lander mission studies (George Mason Univ., ...)

 - VMC Scientific Exploitation (EHU-UPV)

 - HRSC High Level Data processing (DLR, FU Berlin)

 - MARSIS High Level Data processing (Leicester Univ., INAF)

 - SPICAM High Level Data processing (LATMOS)

 - ASPERA High Level Data processing (IRF)

 - ...

International Workshops and Conference ORGANISATION:

- EuroPlanet Science Congress 2021, Virtual Meeting, 13-24 September 2021

- EuroPlanet Science Congress 2022, Granada, 18-23 September 2022

- 55th Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting joint with the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC), San Antonio, Texas, 1-6 October 2023

- EuroPlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, 8-13 September 2024

- ...
 

ESA Mars science community:

The ESA Mars science community is largely based on the Research Fellows at ESAC and ESTEC, in collaboration with Science Operations Teams and Project Scientists :

Recent publications:

See below a short selection of publications within the Martian group at ESA in the past years.
A more complete list can be found in ADS Mars Research Group Publications.
 

(2024) Parrott J., Svedhem H., Witasse O., Wilson C., Müller-Wodarg I., Cardesin-Moinelo A. et al. "First Results of Mars Express—ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Mutual Radio Occultation", Radio Science, 59, e2023RS007873. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023RS007873

(2024) El Yazidi M., Orgel C., Sefton-Nash E., De Marchi G., Rickbir B., et al. "Analysis of faults and pit chains in Noctis Labyrinthus: Implications for early extension and possible magmatic plumbing", Icarus, 415, 116075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116075

(2024) Cardesin-Moinelo A., Godfrey J., Grotheer E., Blake R., Damiani S., et al. "Mars Express: 20 Years of Mission, Science Operations and Data Archiving", Space Science Reviews, 220, 25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-024-01059-0

(2024) Braat L., Brückner M. Z. M., Sefton-Nash E., Lamb M. P. "Gravity-Driven Differences in Fluvial Sediment Transport on Mars and Earth", Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets), 129, e2023JE007788. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JE00778810.31223/x5bq0r

(2024) Diamant S. J. M., Bahia R. S., Sefton-Nash E., Miguel Y. "Martian paleolake outlet canyons - Evidence for controls on valley network formation", Icarus, 408, 115835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115835

(2024) Favaro E. A., Balme M. R., McNeil J. D., Fawdon P., Davis J. M., et al. "Periodic Bedrock Ridges at Oxia Planum and Chryse Planitia, Mars: Evidence for widespread aeolian erosion of an ancient surface by regional paleowinds", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 626, 118522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118522

(2023) Barrett A. M., Wright J., Favaro E., Fawdon P., Balme M. R., et al. "Oxia Planum, Mars, classified using the NOAH-H deep-learning terrain classification system", Journal of Maps, 19, 2112777. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2022.2112777

(2023) Sefton-Nash E., Wray J., Hauber E., Thomas N., Wilson C. "Preface for special issue on the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) at Mars", Planetary and Space Science, 236, 105753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2023.105753

(2023) Sánchez-Cano B., Witasse O., Knutsen E. W., Meggi D., Viet S., et al. "Solar Energetic Particle Events Detected in the Housekeeping Data of the European Space Agency's Spacecraft Flotilla in the Solar System", Space Weather, 21, e2023SW003540. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003540

(2023) Riu L., Carter J., Poulet F., Cardesín-Moinelo A., Martin P. "Global surficial water content stored in hydrated silicates at Mars from OMEGA/MEx", Icarus, 398, 115537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115537

(2023) Cardesín-Moinelo A., Machado P., Brasil F., Martin P. "Mars Wind & Wave Mapping (MWWM) project: A global view of Martian atmosphere from Earth telescopes, Space missions and 3D climate models", Highlights on Spanish Astrophysics XI, 426. https://doi.org/

(2023) Carter J., Riu L., Poulet F., Bibring J.-P., Langevin Y., et al. "A Mars orbital catalog of aqueous alteration signatures (MOCAAS)", Icarus, 389, 115164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115164

(2022) Wright J., Barrett A. M., Fawdon P., Favaro E. A., Balme M. R., et al. "Jezero crater, Mars: application of the deep learning NOAH-H terrain classification system", Journal of Maps, 18, 484. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2022.2095935

(2022) Bahia R. S. "Morphological and hydrological analysis of volcanic flank valleys - Evidence for a volcanic origin", Planetary and Space Science, 223, 105592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2022.105592

(2022) Bahia R. S., Covey-Crump S., Jones M. A., Mitchell N. "Discordance analysis on a high-resolution valley network map of Mars: Assessing the effects of scale on the conformity of valley orientation and surface slope direction", Icarus, 383, 115041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115041

(2022) Kminek G., Benardini J. N., Brenker F. E., Brooks T., Burton A. S., et al. "COSPAR Sample Safety Assessment Framework (SSAF)", Astrobiology, 22, S. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0017

(2022) Kminek G., Meyer M. A., Beaty D. W., Carrier B. L., Haltigin T., et al. "Mars Sample Return (MSR): Planning for Returned Sample Science", Astrobiology, 22, S. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2021.0198

(2022) Riu L., Carter J., Poulet F. "The M3 project: 3 - Global abundance distribution of hydrated silicates at Mars", Icarus, 374, 114809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114809

(2022) Voelker M., Ruiz J., Parro L. M., Hauber E., Cardesín-Moinelo A., et al. "From hot to cold? - Hydrothermal activities as a source for icy-debris flows on Dryas Mons, Terra Sirenum, Mars", Icarus, 372, 114698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114698

...

 

This page is maintained by Alejandro Cardesin & Lucie Riu (ESAC) and Elliot Sefton-Nash (ESTEC).

Please contact us for any question regarding Mars research at both sites.