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Future

Rosalind FranklinÌý

Rosalind FranklinÌýisÌýthe European Space AgencyÌýExoMarsÌýrover that will be delivered to the martian surface by the Russian Kazachok lander.ÌýMSSLÌýis leading theÌýPanCamÌýteam to provide the rover's scientific cameras. The missionÌýis scheduled to launch in SeptemberÌý2022Ìýand arrive at Mars in June 2023. More information is available here.Ìý

Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)

JUICEÌýis an ambitious European Space Agency mission to Ganymede and the Jupiter system. ItÌýis scheduled to be launched in 2022, and to arrive at Jupiter in 2030. It will then orbit the planet, during which time it will study Jupiter itself and its magnetosphere, and will encounter the active icy moon Europa, and Callisto, before entering orbit around Ganymede in 2032.ÌýMSSL has providedÌýhardware for the mission's Particle Environment Package (PEP), led by the Stas Barabash of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna. We also have science co-investigator roles on the spacecraft'sÌýJANUS camera, led by P. Palumbo of Università degli Studi di Napoli, Italy. More information is available here.

Comet Interceptor

Comet Interceptor is an ambitious European Space Agency mission, working in collaboration with the Japanese Space Agency JAXA, to visit for the first time a long-period comet or interstellar object. The project comprises three spacecraft that will travel in parallel through the comet's coma.ÌýThe mission's science consortium is led from MSSL, as is the EnVisS all-sky coma mappingÌýinstrument. Launch will occur in 2029.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory

VRO, formerly known as LSST - The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope - isÌýunder construction in Chile. This highly capable ground-based telescopeÌýis being built to rapidly survey the night-time sky. MSSL scientists willÌýstudy images of comets taken by the observatory to learn more aboutÌýtheir ion and dust tails, revealing information on solar wind conditions at these objects, and tracking their dust ejection activity. More information on the observatory is available .

Euclid

Euclid is an ESA mission to map the geometry of the dark Universe. MSSL is playing a key role in the provision of the VIS instrument for this space observatory. In the Planetary Group, we intend to study solar system objects such as comets and asteroids that will appear in the foreground of the EuclidÌýimages of the far Universe.Ìý

Current

Mars Express (2003-)

Mars Express is anÌýEuropean Space Agency spacecraft that has continued to operate successfully since 2003. It delivered the Beagle-2 lander to the planet. MSSL contributed toÌýthe mission's ASPERA-3 instrument providing blackening and calibration for the electron spectrometer. More information is availableÌýhere.

BepiColombo (2018-)

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will reach Mercury inÌý2025. It has two spacecraft - the ESA Mercury Planetary Orbiter and theÌýJAXA Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, named Mio. MSSL are co-investigatorÌýon theÌýMercury Plasma and Particle Experiment (MPPE) on Mio, contributing toÌýearly design

Perserverance (2020-)

The NASA Perseverence rover landed on Mars inÌýFebruary 2021. It isÌýsearching for signs of life, and will cache rock coreÌýsamples on the surface for return to Earth by the NASA-ESAÌýMars Sample ReturnÌýmission in 2026. We are co-investigator on the scientific cameraÌýMastcam-Z, which provides stereo and zoom images to study Mars's geologyÌýand atmosphere. Our ExoMars PanCam team helped with filter selection andÌýstereo processing.

Solar Orbiter (2020-)

Solar Orbiter is a mission primarily designed to study the Sun and heliosphere. The mission's powerful range of instruments also gather valuable data on planets, comets, and dust, which we are studying within the Planetary Group. More information is available here.

XMM Newton (1999-)

MSSL contributed to several aspects of XMM-Newton, in particular the Optical Monitor (OM) and the Remote Grating Spectrometer (RGS) instruments. The spacecraft has made possible observations of X-ray sources of all types. In the Planetary Group, we study X-rayÌýobservationsÌýof the outer planets, to learn more about these planets' aurora and their links to processes in the solar wind and these planets' magnetospheres.ÌýMore information is available here.

Chandra X-ray Observatory (1999-)

The NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory is an X-ray telescope operating in Earth orbit. In addition toÌýits many astrophysical targets, the observatory has also provided invaluable data on bodies in our Solar System. Planetay Group scientists study planetary observationsÌýmade usingÌýthis spacecraft to learn more about outer planet X-ray missions, which primarily emanateÌýfrom auroral regions.

Past

Cassini-Huygens (1997-2017)

Cassini-Huygens was an incredibly successful joint mission to Saturn and its moonsÌýbetween NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency. MSSL led the design and manufacture of the Cassini Electron Spectrometer element of the CAPS instrument that was carried on the Cassini orbiter. The analysis of data from that instrument continues, with new discoveries continuing to be made in relation to Saturn's magnetosphere, Titan's ionosphere, and the interactions between the planet's moons and their surroundings. CAPS-ELS detected negative ions in several regions of the Saturn system. The group also has a scientific role in the Cassini MIMI instrument.

Venus Express (2005-2014)

Venus Express wasÌýESA's first mission to Earth's closest planetary neighbour,ÌýVenus. MSSL made contributions to the ASPERA instrument carried aboard the spacecraft, which returned valuable data on the interaction between Venus and the solar wind. Analysis of this dataset continues. More information is available here.

Rosetta (2004-2016)

The ESA Rosetta mission accompanied cometÌýChuryumov-Gerasimenko on its journey around the Sun between 2014 andÌý2016. MSSL were co-investigator on the Rosetta Plasma Consortium,Ìýadvising on instrument design,Ìýstudying pickup ions near the comet, and carried outÌýground-based observations of the comet.

Mars-96 (1996)

Mars-96 was a highly ambitious Russian-led mission that would have delivered two soft landers, a surface penetrator, and a highly-capable orbiting spacecraft to Mars. MSSL led the FONEMA plasma instrument, that would have allowed the study of atmospheric escape in the vicinity of the planet. Unfortunately, the craft failed to leave orbit, and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.ÌýBuilding FONEMA provided a wealth of additional experience in building highly-capableÌýplasma detectors for planetary space missions.

Beagle-2 (2003)

Beagle-2 was a UK-led Mars lander that was delivered to the planet by the ESA Mars Express spacecraft. MSSL provided the lander's stereo camera system.ÌýThe craft landed on Mars on 25ÌýDecember 2003, but inÌýimages obtained from martian orbit,Ìýappears to have not fully deployed on the surface, preventing the lander from sending scientific data to Earth.

Giotto (1985-1992)

Giotto was the European Space Agency's first interplanetary mission, and was part of the international armada of spacecraft which made flybys of Comet 1P/Halley in 1986. Following its encounter with Halley, the spacecraft was put into hibernation. It was reawoken to make a close approach of Earth in 1990, which enabled it to make a flyby of Comet Grigg-Skjellerup in July 1992.ÌýThe Johnstone Plasma Analyser (JPA), led from MSSL, captured valuable data revealing details of the process through which has from a comet joins the flow of the solar wind.ÌýMore information is available here.

Past Mission Proposals

Akon Penetrator (2016)

This proposal to ESA, led by MSSL, was for anÌýinstrumented penetratorÌýto be delivered to the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa by the NASA Europa Lander mission. Following descent andÌýa high-speed impact at 300 m/s, instruments inside the craft would have gathered unique data on the near-subsurface of this intriguing, water-ice-coveredÌýmoon.

Castalia (2015 and 2016)

The aim of the Castalia mission wasÌýto explore a Main Belt Comet (MBC) - a body in the asteroid belt that contains ice. The missionÌýwas proposed twice to the European Space Agency, with one of these proposalsÌýledÌýfrom MSSL. Studying an example of this recently discoveredÌýsolar system minor body would allow us to learn more about the distribution of volatiles in the early stages of planet formation, andÌýthe links between water and organics in the asteroid belt ultimately withÌýlife on Earth.

Uranus Pathfinder (2010)

UP was an MSSL-led proposal for a European Space Agency-led mission to the planet Uranus. This multi-disciplinary mission would have carried out the first survey of the planet, moons and magnetosphere of the seventh planet since the brief Voyager 2 flyby in 1986.

Caroline (2010)

The Caroline mission would have captured and returned to Earth a sample of dust fromÌýa Main Belt Comet (MBC). The proposalÌýto the European Space Agency wasÌýledÌýfrom MSSL. Studying this recently discovered class of minor bodies in the solar system would allow us to learn more about the distribution of volatiles in the early stages of planet formation,Ìýthe link between water and organics in the asteroid belt, and life on Earth.

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