Exploring Martian Magnetic Fields with a Helicopter

The era of helicopter-based surveys on Mars has already begun, creating opportunities for future aerial science investigations with a range of instruments. We argue that magnetometer-based studies can make use of aerial technology to answer some of the key questions regarding early Mars evolution. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anna Mittelholz, Lindsey Heagy, Catherine L. Johnson, Jonathan Bapst, Jared Espley, Abigail A. Fraeman, Benoit Langlais, Robert Lillis, William Rapin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2023-01-01
Series:The Planetary Science Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ace9c1
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Summary:The era of helicopter-based surveys on Mars has already begun, creating opportunities for future aerial science investigations with a range of instruments. We argue that magnetometer-based studies can make use of aerial technology to answer some of the key questions regarding early Mars evolution. As such, we discuss mission concepts for a helicopter equipped with a magnetometer on Mars, measurements it would provide, and survey designs that could be implemented. For a range of scenarios, we build magnetization models and test how well structures can be resolved using a range of different inversion approaches. With this work, we provide modeling ground work and recommendations to plan the future of aerial Mars exploration.
ISSN:2632-3338