PDS: The Planetary Atmospheres Node
Introduction
The MESSENGER Mission
The instrument and mission plan were designed to address the following questions:
Additional questions addressed by MASC concerning formation and geological history are:
The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) is comprised of a small Cassegrain telescope with a 257-mm effective focal length and a 50-mm aperture that simultaneously feeds both an UltraViolet and Visible Spectrometer (UVVS) and a Visible and InfraRed Spectrograph (VIRS). MASCS will investigate Mercury's exosphere by measuring altitude profiles of known species as well as searching for previously undetected species. MASCS will investigate the mineralogical composition of the surface of Mercury by obtaining maps of surface reflectance spectra on spatial scales of 5 km. The VIRS data (for mapping the surface) are archived in the GEO node while UVVS data (capable of detecting the atmosphere) are available in both the GEO and ATMOS nodes. I need to ask Lyle if we have all the VIRS data
UVVS is a scanning grating, Ebert-Fastie monochromator with a focal length of 125-mm and is equipped with three photomultiplier tube detectors. The three detectors cover the wavelength ranges of the far ultraviolet (115-180 nm), middle ultraviolet (160-320 nm), and visible (250-600 nm) with an average spectral resolution of 0.6 nm. Two of the three photomultiplier tubes can be operated simultaneously; any combination of two is possible.
UVVS investigates the composition and structure of Mercury's exosphere by measuring altitude profiles of known species (H, O, Na, K, and Ca), which can be used to determine exospheric temperature and density and to map the extended distributions of these species. It makes observations at a series of fixed wavelengths to search for predicted species that have not been previously detected (e.g., Si, Al, Mg, Fe, S, OH) and in spectral scans (115-600 nm) to search for new species. In addition to determining the composition and structure of the exosphere, It provides the basis for determining exospheric processes, studying the relationship between surface and exospheric composition, and studying surface-exosphere-magnetosphere interactions. In addition, UVVS and VIRS measure surface reflectance at middle ultraviolet to visible to near infrared wavelengths to search for ferrous-bearing minerals (spectral signatures near 1 μ), Fe-Ti-bearing glasses (spectral signatures near 340 nm), and ferrous iron (strong band near 250 nm). These measurements are made with a spatial resolution of 5 km or better.
References
For mission overview see Solomon, S.C., McNutt, R.L., Gold, R.E. et al., MESSENGER Mission Overview, Space Sci Rev (2007) 131: 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-007-9247-6
For instrument description see McClintock, W. E. and Lankton M. R.,The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer for the MESSENGER Mission, Space Sci Rev (2007) 131: 481–521, DOI 10.1007/s11214-007-9264-5.
Access to Data
Useful Documents
The UVVS archive contains the raw (ERDs), 2 versions of the Calibrated (CDR) and Derived (DDR) data. The UVVS and VIRS data are stored in the same folders and can be found through the following links by navigating to the data directory and then choosing folders with names beginning with m for cruise and flyby data and with o for orbiting data.
Available UVVS Products and Documentation
Raw Data
(SIS and cat) There are three UVVS EDR data products, one for each detector (FUV, MUV, VIS) and a MASCS housekeeping EDR data product. The UVVS EDR data products all have the same binary table format but contain data specific to the FUV, MUV, or VIS detector.
Options for Calibrated and Derived Data
The latest data delivery (accessed below) contains files that are an improved version of the previously released products, however the older data remains available in PDS. The current data is described the SIS and calibration is documented in the MASCS Instrument Calibration Report. Ongoing Publication List
The MESSENGER Mission
The spacecraft was launched in August 2004. It completed one flyby of Earth, two of Venus, and three of Mercury before entering an orbit around Mercury in March 2011. The prime mission was successful and the mission was extended to April 30, 2015. For more information on the mission and other data sets see the GEO help pages.
| Mission Phases | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start time | End time | ||||||
| Phase Name | Date (DOY) | Date (DOY) | Operations & Targets | ||||
| Iau | Launch | 03 Aug 2004 (216) | 12 Sep 2004 (256) | Calibration | |||
| eac | Earth Cruise | 13 Sep 2004 (257) | 18 Jul 2005 (199) | Calibration | |||
| eaf | Earth Flyby | 19 Jul 2005 (200) | 16 Aug 2005 (228) | Earth(2)/Moon(17), Calibration | |||
| vc1 | Venus 1 Cruise | 17 Aug 2005 (229) | 09 Oct 2006 (282) | Calibration, Vega, Fomalhaut, Sirius | |||
| Venus 1 Flyby | 10 Oct 2006 (283) | 07 Nov 2006 (311) | |||||
| vc2 | Venus 2 Cruise | 08 Nov 2006 (312) | 22 May 2007 (142) | Spica, Sirius, Space, Venus | |||
| vf2 | Venus 2 Flyby | 23 May 2007 (143) | 20 Jun 2007 (171) | Venus | |||
| mc1 | Mercury 1 Cruise | 21 Jun 2007 (172) | 30 Dec 2007 (364) | Calibration, Sirius, Alpha_Ori, Space | |||
| mf1 | Mercury 1 Flyby | 31 Dec 2007 (365) | 28 Jan 2008 (28) | Mercury, Space | |||
| mc2 | Mercury 2 Cruise | 29 Jan 2008 (029) | 21 Sep 2008 (265) | Fomalhaut, Calibration, Dirus Dark Sky | |||
| mf1 | Mercury 2 Flyby | 22 Sep 2008 (266) | 20 Oct 2008 (294) | Space, Mercury,Sirius, Lyman Alpha | |||
| mc3 | Mercury 3 Cruise | 21 Oct 2008 (295) | 15 Sep 2009 (258) | Sirius, Calibration, Dark Sky, Venus, Space | |||
| Alpha_Ori. Fomalhaut, Arcturus, Mercury | |||||||
| mf1 | Mercury 3 Flyby | 16 Sep 2009 (259) | 14 Oct 2009 (287) | Mercury, Space | |||
| mc4 | Mercury 4 Cruise | 15 Oct 2009 (288) | 03 Mar 2011 (062) | Venus, Alphs_Ori, Sirius, Space | |||
| Spica, Calibration, Vega | |||||||
| orb | Mercury Orbit | 04 Mar 2011 (063) | 17 Mar 2012 (077) | Mercury, Sirius | |||
| ob2 | Mercury Orbit Year 2 | 18 Mar 2012 (078) | 17 Mar 2013 (076) | Mercury | |||
| ob3 | Mercury Orbit Year 3 | 18 Mar 2013 (077) | 17 Mar 2014 (076) | Mercury | |||
| ob4 | Mercury Orbit Year 4 | 18 Mar 2014 (077) | 17 Mar 2015 (076) | Mercury | |||
| ob5 | Mercury Orbit Year 5 | 18 Mar 2015 (077) | 30 Apr 2015 (120) | Mercury | |||
| Beginning of Mercury Years | |||||
| 1 | 4-Mar-11 | 7 | 24-Aug-12 | 13 | 3-Feb-14 |
| 2 | 12-Jun-11 | 8 | 20-Nov-12 | 14 | 2-May-14 |
| 3 | 8-Sep-11 | 9 | 16-Feb-13 | 15 | 29-Jul-14 |
| 4 | 5-Dec-11 | 10 | 15-May-13 | 16 | 25-Oct-14 |
| 5 | 1-Mar-12 | 11 | 11-Aug-13 | 17 | 21-Jan-15 |
| 6 | 28-May-12 | 12 | 7-Nov-13 | 18 | 19-Apr-15 |
The instrument and mission plan were designed to address the following questions:
- What are the composition, structure, and temporal behavior of the exosphere?
- What are the processes that generate and maintain the exosphere?
(Note: The Magnetometer and EPPS data needed to address that are archived in the PPI node) - What is the relationship between exospheric and surface composition? (Note: The MDIS imaging data that provides surface maps is archived in the Cartography and Imaging node and the Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer data are in the GEO node).
- Are there polar deposits of volatile material, and how are the accumulation of these deposits related to exospheric processes (Note: UVVS OH data can address this.)?
Additional questions addressed by MASC concerning formation and geological history are:
- What is the mineralogy of Mercury's surface and its variation with geological unit?
- What is the rate of space weathering on Mercury, and how does it affect spectral interpretations?
The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) is comprised of a small Cassegrain telescope with a 257-mm effective focal length and a 50-mm aperture that simultaneously feeds both an UltraViolet and Visible Spectrometer (UVVS) and a Visible and InfraRed Spectrograph (VIRS). MASCS will investigate Mercury's exosphere by measuring altitude profiles of known species as well as searching for previously undetected species. MASCS will investigate the mineralogical composition of the surface of Mercury by obtaining maps of surface reflectance spectra on spatial scales of 5 km. The VIRS data (for mapping the surface) are archived in the GEO node while UVVS data (capable of detecting the atmosphere) are available in both the GEO and ATMOS nodes. I need to ask Lyle if we have all the VIRS data
UVVS is a scanning grating, Ebert-Fastie monochromator with a focal length of 125-mm and is equipped with three photomultiplier tube detectors. The three detectors cover the wavelength ranges of the far ultraviolet (115-180 nm), middle ultraviolet (160-320 nm), and visible (250-600 nm) with an average spectral resolution of 0.6 nm. Two of the three photomultiplier tubes can be operated simultaneously; any combination of two is possible.
UVVS investigates the composition and structure of Mercury's exosphere by measuring altitude profiles of known species (H, O, Na, K, and Ca), which can be used to determine exospheric temperature and density and to map the extended distributions of these species. It makes observations at a series of fixed wavelengths to search for predicted species that have not been previously detected (e.g., Si, Al, Mg, Fe, S, OH) and in spectral scans (115-600 nm) to search for new species. In addition to determining the composition and structure of the exosphere, It provides the basis for determining exospheric processes, studying the relationship between surface and exospheric composition, and studying surface-exosphere-magnetosphere interactions. In addition, UVVS and VIRS measure surface reflectance at middle ultraviolet to visible to near infrared wavelengths to search for ferrous-bearing minerals (spectral signatures near 1 μ), Fe-Ti-bearing glasses (spectral signatures near 340 nm), and ferrous iron (strong band near 250 nm). These measurements are made with a spatial resolution of 5 km or better.
References
For mission overview see Solomon, S.C., McNutt, R.L., Gold, R.E. et al., MESSENGER Mission Overview, Space Sci Rev (2007) 131: 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-007-9247-6
For instrument description see McClintock, W. E. and Lankton M. R.,The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer for the MESSENGER Mission, Space Sci Rev (2007) 131: 481–521, DOI 10.1007/s11214-007-9264-5.
Access to Data
Useful Documents
An AAREADME file
A description of the mission
A description of the spacecraft
description of the instrument
References
A description of the mission
A description of the spacecraft
description of the instrument
References
The UVVS archive contains the raw (ERDs), 2 versions of the Calibrated (CDR) and Derived (DDR) data. The UVVS and VIRS data are stored in the same folders and can be found through the following links by navigating to the data directory and then choosing folders with names beginning with m for cruise and flyby data and with o for orbiting data.
Available UVVS Products and Documentation
Raw Data
(SIS and cat) There are three UVVS EDR data products, one for each detector (FUV, MUV, VIS) and a MASCS housekeeping EDR data product. The UVVS EDR data products all have the same binary table format but contain data specific to the FUV, MUV, or VIS detector.
Options for Calibrated and Derived Data
The latest data delivery (accessed below) contains files that are an improved version of the previously released products, however the older data remains available in PDS. The current data is described the SIS and calibration is documented in the MASCS Instrument Calibration Report. Ongoing Publication List
