A description of the design, development and science results from the Mars Phoenix lidar is presented. This lidar system for atmospheric measurements operated from the surface of Mars as part of the Phoenix mission for the five months following the 25 May 2008 landing. The lidar used both 532 nm and 1064 nm laser transmitters to measure the height profile of backscattered laser light from airborne dust and clouds at heights of up to 20 km. The most significant result to‐date from the Phoenix lidar observations was the observation that water ice crystals grow large enough to precipitate significant distances through the atmosphere of Mars.
The Phoenix lidar was the most complex of the Canadian instruments on the Phoenix lander. These instruments were the first instruments from Canada to operate on the surface of another planet. Their success is a testament to Canadian science and technology and set the stage for subsequent Canadian planetary science contributions.
Canadian Mars Phoenix Lidar
Optical Payloads for Space Missions ; 523-537
2015-12-10
14 pages
Aufsatz/Kapitel (Buch)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Online Contents | 2008
|NTRS | 2008
|Online Contents | 2008
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