Past and current laser altimeter instruments in planetary research have high requirements in terms of mass, power and volume. We present a novel less resource-demanding concept based on single-photon counting techniques. The instrument concept was utilized in a flight campaign of which the setup and the data analysis is presented. A small-satellite mission to the Moon is outlined as well as further potential for miniaturization of the instrument concept.
K. Enya, M. Kobayashi, K. Ishibashi, S. Kobayashi, N. Namiki, H. Araki, S. Tazawa, H. Noda, S. Oshigami, S. Kashima, M. Utsunomiya, J. Kimura, K. Touhara, T. Yamawaki, S. Iwamura, N. Fujishiro, Y. Matsumoto, T. Iida, H. Nakagawa, H. Imai, O. Kirino, C. Hatakeyama, T. Yokozawa, Y. Sato, K. Kojima, N. Matsui, K. Tanimoto, M. Fujii, C. Althaus, S. Del Togno, J. Jänchen, B. Borgs, T. Behnke, H. G. Lötzke, R. Kallenbach, K. Lingenauber, H. Hussmann
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission of the European Space Agency to be launched in 2022 will provide an opportunity for a dedicated exploration of the Jovian system including its icy moons. The Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) has been selected as one of the ten payloads of JUICE. GALA will enable unique studies of the topography and shape, tidal and rotational state, and geology of primarily Ganymede but also Europa and Callisto. The GALA project is an ongoing international collaboration led by Germany, together with Switzerland, Spain, and Japan. This paper presents the optical and mechanical design of the focal plane receiver, the Japanese part of GALA.
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