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First Results of Mars Express - ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Mutual Radio Occultation
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  • Jacob Parrott,
  • Hakan Svedhem,
  • Olivier Witasse,
  • Colin F Wilson,
  • Ingo C. F. Mueller-Wodarg,
  • Alejandro Cardesín Moinelo,
  • Peter Schmitz,
  • James Godfrey,
  • Olivier Reboud,
  • Bernhard Geiger,
  • Beatriz Sánchez‐Cano,
  • Bruno Nava,
  • Yenca Migoya-Orué
Jacob Parrott
Imperial College London

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Hakan Svedhem
ESA/ESTEC
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Olivier Witasse
ESA
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Colin F Wilson
European Space Agency
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Ingo C. F. Mueller-Wodarg
Imperial College London
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Alejandro Cardesín Moinelo
ESA-ESAC
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Peter Schmitz
ESA-ESOC
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James Godfrey
ESA-ESOC
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Olivier Reboud
ESA-ESOC
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Bernhard Geiger
European Space Astronomy Centre/Solar System Science Operations Division, European Space
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Beatriz Sánchez‐Cano
University of Leicester
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Bruno Nava
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
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Yenca Migoya-Orué
Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) T/ICT4D,
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Abstract

Spacecraft-to-spacecraft radio occultations experiments are being conducted at Mars between the Mars Express (MEX) and Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft, the first ever periodic inter-spacecraft occultations at a planet other than Earth. Here we present results from the first 83 such occultations, conducted between 2\textsuperscript{nd} Nov 2020 and 5\textsuperscript{th} of July 2023. Of these, 44 observations have to-date resulted in the extraction of vertical electron density profiles. These observations are the successful results of a major feasibility study conducted by the European Space Agency to use pre-existing relay communication equipment for radio science purposes. Mutual radio occultations have numerous advantages over traditional spacecraft-to-ground station occultations. In this work, we demonstrate how raw data are transformed into electron density values and validated with models and other instruments.
22 Sep 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
30 Sep 2023Published in ESS Open Archive