Radio Science Techniques for Deep Space Exploration

1 Investigations and Techniques

1.0 Introduction

Space agencies send robotic missions to explore the Solar System and deliver the important scientific data obtained by onboard instruments to control centers and science teams via radio communication links. From the early missions, scientists realized the utility of the radio links themselves as fundamental scientific tools for exploration and research. Many phenomena at Solar System targets affect the characteristics of the radio signals in a manner that reveals the targets’ scientific properties.

Over the past six decades, scientists have made an extensive set of discoveries about Solar System bodies using spacecraft radio science (RS) investigations and techniques. They have inferred the presence of liquid oceans beneath the icy surfaces of Titan, Enceladus, and Europa, where possible future missions might search for life. They have also profiled the atmospheres and characterized the surface properties of many planetary bodies, key information to also aid potential future human exploration. From the Sun and Mercury to the outer reaches of the Solar System, this field has our increased understanding of the Universe.

Monitoring spacecraft radio signals enables researchers to precisely measure the changes in the link’s frequency, amplitude, and polarization, and other electromagnetic wave parameters. With these measurement tools, scientists investigate ionospheres, neutral atmospheres, rings, surfaces, shapes, internal structure, ...