JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2017

Presentation information

[JJ] Oral

P (Space and Planetary Sciences) » P-PS Planetary Sciences

[P-PS07] [JJ] Planetary Sciences

Wed. May 24, 2017 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM A04 (Tokyo Bay Makuhari Hall)

convener:Shunichi Kamata(Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University), Takaya Okamoto(Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology), Chairperson:Shunichi Kamata(Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University), Chairperson:Keigo Enya(Institute of Space and Astronautical Science)

11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

[PPS07-02] JUICE/GALA-J (1) : The Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) for the JUICE mission - Introduction and current status

*Keigo Enya1, Noriyuki Namiki2, Masanori Kobayashi3, Jun Kimura4, Hirotomo Noda2, Hiroshi Araki2, Shingo Kashima2, makoto Utsunomiya2, Katsuhiko Ishibashi3, Shingo Kobayashi6, Shoko Oshigami5, Takahide Mizuno1, Masanobu Ozaki1, Toshihiko Yamawaki1, Kazuyuki Touhara1, Yoshifumi Saito1, Shunichi Kamata7, Koji Matsumoto2, Kiyoshi Kuramoto7, Sho Sasaki4, Satoru Iwamura8, Teruhito Iida9, Naofumi Fujishiro10, Masayuki Fujii11, Hauke Hussmann12, Kay Lingenauber12, Reinald Kallenbach12, Judit Jaenchen12, Thomas Behnke12, Christian Althaus12, Simone DelTogno12, Juergen Oberst12, Horst-Georg Loetzke12, Harald Michaelis12 (1.ISAS, 2.NAOJ, 3.CIT, 4.Osaka University, 5.Kogakuin University, 6.NIRS, 7.Hokkaido University, 8.MRJ, 9.PLANET, 10.astroopt, 11.Meisei Electric, 12.DLR)

Keywords:JUICE, GALA, Jupiter, Ganymede, Laser altimeter

We present an introduction, current status, and role of the Japan team for the Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) for the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission. JUICE is a mission of ESA to be launched in 2022, and GALA is one of the payloads of JUICE.

Major objectives of GALA are to provide topographic data of Ganymede, the largest satellite of Jupiter, and to measure its tidal amplitudes. The latter is crucially important to detect and to characterize an underground ocean on Ganymede. Furthermore, GALA support geological studies, e.g., identification of characterization of tectonic and cryo-volcanic regions, impact basins, and craters. GALA also provides information on surface roughness and the albedo.

For the laser altimetry, GALA emits and receives laser pulses at about 500 km altitude above Ganymede. Wavelength, energy, and repetition frequency of the laser plus are 1064 nm, 17 mJ, and 30 Hz, respectively. Reflected beam from the Ganymede surface is received by the receiver telescope with 25 cm diameter aperture, re-focused by the BEO including a narrow band-pass filter, and then detected by the APD detector.

Development of GALA is carried out in international collaboration from Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Spain. GALA-Japan will develop the Backend Optics (BEO), the Focal Plane assembly (FPA) including an avalanche photo-diode (APD) detector, and the Analog Electronics module (AEM) in the receiver chain.Development of hardware, the structure and thermal models and following models, was started. In the presentation, we will report the newest project status updated for the conference date.