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Mars is privileged target in planetary sciences, in particular because of the conservation of ancient grounds (-4.5, -3.7 billion years) on the highlands of the South, while the Earth was living its first moments. This interest has grown in recent years with the discovery of ancient deposits bearing various hydrated phases including phyllosilicates, which are minerals testifying to the presence of liquid water in a stable manner on time scales that could be compatible with the development of life.

The objective of the ExoMars mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) is to characterize this astrobiological potential. This mission includes an orbiter (Trace Gas Orbiter / TGO), launched in 2016 and currently in orbit around Mars, and a rover scheduled for launch in 2022.

Project Status :

Under development

http://exploration.esa.int/mars/48088-mission-overview/

MMX (Mars Moon eXplorer)

MMX (Mars Moon eXplorer) est une mission de la JAXA (agence spatiale japonaise), en phase d'étude, pour une approbation par le gouvernement japonais fin 2018, et un lancement en 2024. Son objectif premier est de caractériser les deux satellites de Mars, Phobos et Deimos, pour en déterminer l'origine, dont deux possibilités extrêmes ont été proposées : capture d'astéroides, ou accrétion en orbite martienne, à partir du matériau éjecté lors d'un impact géant que Mars aurait subi, peu après sa formation, comme ce fut le cas de la Lune de la Terre.

Project Status :

Under development

Ariel

ARIEL is a space telescope that will systematically probe the atmospheres of a thousand extrasolar planets, from gas giants to rocky planets, whether hot or temperate around stars of different types. ARIEL will measure the composition and structure of planetary atmospheres, constrain the nature of planetary cores, detect the presence of clouds and study interactions with the host star. More details.

Contact : M. Ollivier

Project Status :

Under development

https://toosuwt.cluster030.hosting.ovh.net/

PLATO

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) was selected as the M3 mission of the Cosmic Vision program. Lauch is expected in december 2026. Its objective is the characterization of stellar systems and their exoplanets.

The IAS stellar group as well as the exoplanet group is strongly involved in the ground segment, as well as camera testing and scientific exploitation.

Project Status :

Under development

http://sci.esa.int/plato/

JUICE/MAJIS

The main objectives of the JUICE mission will be to perform detailed observations of the giant planet Jupiter and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. IAS is in charge of the scientific and technical developement for the visible and infrared imaging spectrometer MAJIS (Moons And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer) which is part of the JUICE payload. The instrument was delivered in 2021. The mission was launched from Kourou with an Ariane 5 on April 14, 2023 à 14:14:29.

Contacts : François Poulet (PI), Cydalise Dumesnil (project manager)

Project Status :

Cruise phase

http://sci.esa.int/juice/

PSUP

In addition to the instrumental developments and the analysis of data from different missions, we seek to enhance the data resulting from our analyzes. It is in this context that an observation service has been set up to be able to archive and merge different types of data concerning the surface of Mars. We invite you to browse the features and data made available on the site:
http://psup.ias.u-psud.fr

This service is recognized as national service by INSU.

More information.

Contact : François Poulet

Project Status :

On-going

http://psup.ias.u-psud.fr/sitools/client-user/index.html?project=PLISonMars

SICAL

SICAL (Simulateur d'Irradiation de Carbones Amorphes en Laboratoire)

Project Status :

In progress

HeCor et HEIT

The Sun and its corona as seen by HECOR and HEIT: preliminary results.

Launched on September 14, 2009 from White Sands Missile Range (New Mexico), the Herschel sounding rocket was carrying two experiments with strong IAS participation: HECOR and HEIT.

Project Status :

In progress

SDO

https://aia.lmsal.com/

Data access: http://medoc-sdo.ias.u-psud.fr/

SDO: The Solar Dynamics Observatory is the first mission to be launched for NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) Program, a program designed to understand the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. SDO is designed to help us in understanding the Sun's influence on Earth and near-earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously.

Project Status :

In progress

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

IRIS

IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, NASA, launched in 2013) combines imagers and a spectrograph. The solar group gets interest in this mission for its diagnosis capacities of the solar plasma based on these two technics.

Contact: J-C Vial

Project Status :

In progress

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/iris

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