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| Titel |
Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND) onboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter |
| VerfasserIn |
Alexey Malakhov, Igor Mitrofanov, Anton Sanin, Maxim Litvak, Alexander Kozyrev, Vladislav Tretiyakov, Maxim Mokrousov, Andrey Vostrukhin, Dmitry Golovin, Fedor Fedosov, Sergey Nikiforov, Alexey Konovalov, Tatiana Tomilina, Yury Bobrovnitsky, Alexander Grebennikov, Boris Bakhtin, Mariya Loktionova |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2013
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 15 (2013) |
| Datensatznummer |
250080167
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| Zusammenfassung |
| ExoMars is a joint investigation of Mars carried out by Roscosmos and ESA that has 2
launches foreseen, in 2016 and 2018. Planned for launch in 2016, its first element, the Trace
Gas Orbiter (TGO) will spend at least one Martian year orbiting the planet. Fine Resolution
Neutron Detector (FREND) instrument was proposed by Roscosmos and will be measuring
thermal, epithermal and high energy neutrons with energy ranges up to 10 MeV, which
variations are an excellent signature of H bearing elements presence in the regolith at up to 1
meter depth.
Neutron mapping of Mars is being performed by HEND instrument since 2002 as part of
the Mars Odyssey instrument suite. The important step in Martian exploration from FREND
will be its high spatial resolution: FREND contains a collimator structure that narrows the
instrument’s field of view to a 40 km diameter spot at 400 km altitude. The collimation
technology was previously confirmed by LEND, an instrument onboard NASA’s Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. FREND collimator is a structure with 2 layers,
external polyethylene moderating neutrons and internal layer of 10B absorbing them. The
instrument uses as much of LEND heritage (detection systems, electronics etc.) as possible.
Like LEND, FREND will have a set of 3He proportional counters covering the thermal and
epithermal neutrons range, plus the stilbene scintillator to cover the high energy neutrons
range.
FREND’s dosimeter module is another important part of the system, providing charged
particles measurements of dose and flux with time resolution of up to 1 minute and energy
spectra covering the 100 keV to 80 MeV range. This will provide additional information for
radiation environment on the orbit around Mars.
When built, FREND will be the first collimated neutron detector to orbit Mars and will
improve existing neutron maps by up to 10 times in the linear spatial resolution. This
potentially will clarify our knowledge of water/hydrogen rich features and other interesting
places on the surface of the planet. This is, for sure, essential for studies of Martian geology
and atmosphere as well as for planning next exploration of the planet, including landing sites
selection for future missions. |
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