Phobos Program - Systems and Sensors

Systems and Sensors

Phobos probes carried several instruments: solar x-ray and ultraviolet telescopes, a neutron spectrometer and the Grunt radar experiment designed to study the surface relief of Phobos. The lander had an x-ray/alpha spectrometer to provide information on the chemical element composition of the surface of Phobos, a seismometer to determine the internal structure of Phobos, and the "Razrez" penetrator with temperature sensors and an accelerometer for testing the physical and mechanical properties of the surface.

The Phobos 2 infrared spectrometer (ISM) obtained 45000 spectra in the near infrared (from 0.75 to 3.2 µm) in the equatorial areas of Mars, with a spatial resolution ranging from 7 to 25 km, and 400 spectra of Phobos at 700 m resolution. These observations made it possible to retrieve the first mineralogical maps of the planet and its satellite, and to study the atmosphere of Mars. ISM was developed at IAS and DESPA (Paris Observatory) with support from CNES.

List of instruments:

  • "VSK" TV imaging system
  • PROP-F "hopping" lander. Only carried by Phobos 2.
    • ARS-FP automatic X-ray fluorescence spectrometer
    • ferroprobe magnetometer
    • Kappameter magnetic permeability / susceptibility sensor
    • gravimeter
    • temperature sensors
    • BISIN conductometer / tiltmeter
    • mechanical sensors (penetrometer, UIU accelerometer, sensors on hopping mechanism)
  • "DAS" (long-lived autonomous station) lander
    • TV camera
    • ALPHA-X Alpha-Proton-X-Ray Spectrometer
    • LIBRATION sun sensor (also known as STENOPEE)
    • Seismometer
    • RAZREZ anchor penetrometer
    • Celestial mechanics experiment
  • "ISM" thermal infrared spectrometer/radiometer - 1–2 km resolution
  • near-infrared imaging spectrometer
  • thermal imaging camera; magnetometers
  • gamma-ray spectrometers
  • X-ray telescope
  • radiation detectors
  • radar and laser altimeters
  • Lima-D laser experiment - designed to vaporise material from the Phobos surface for chemical analysis by a mass spectrometer
  • "Grunt" imaging radar - Only carried by Phobos 1

Read more about this topic:  Phobos Program

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