Surface science on Phobos with the navigation cameras of the MMX IDEFIX rover
Abstract A CNES/DLR rover called IDEFIX will be deployed on the surface of Phobos in late 2028 or early 2029 as part of JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The goal of the rover is to travel across the surface of Phobos for at least 100 days, with autonomous guidance provided by the navigation cameras (a stereo pair). By taking stereoscopic images of the area around IDEFIX up to the horizon (resolution of a few millimeters at 1 m), the navigation cameras aim to provide answers to a number of scientific questions, such as the origin of the color dichotomy, the nature of space weathering processes, and the extent of dust transport and exogenous contamination on Phobos. Here we present the IDEFIX navigation cameras, including their ground calibrations, and the science questions they are intended to address. We also present the architecture of the data processing pipeline being developed at the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille to address the science objectives of the navigation cameras.
Authors
- J. Lasue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9082-4457)
- Pierre-Yves Chabaud
- S. Charnoz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7442-491X)
- Patrick Michel
- O. Groussin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8997-3815)
- Simon Tardivel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2483-9826)
- Nicolas Théret
- Pierre Vernazza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2564-6743)
- A. Poulain
- A. Doressoundiram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8652-7919)
- O. Ruesch
- Julien Baroukh
- Émilie Robert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2260-1873)
- Cédric Virmontois (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9348-1565)
- Stephan Ulamec (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8856-4622)
- Naomi Murdoch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9701-4075)
- Valérian Lalucaa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4083-5363)
- Emile Remetean
- Pierre Beck
- Stéphane Le Mouélic
- Laurent Jorda
- Jean Claude Bertrand
- Jessica Flahaut
- M. A. Barucci
- Celia Pimorin
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR)
- Institut de physique du globe de Paris (FR)
- Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Aix-Marseille Université (FR)
- University of Münster (DE)
- Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (FR)
- Centre National d'Études Spatiales (FR)
- Observatoire de Paris (FR)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Sorbonne Paris Cité (FR)
- Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (FR)
- Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR)
- National Higher French Institute of Aeronautics and Space (FR)
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences (FR)
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
- Université de Lorraine (FR)
- Nantes Université (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
- Published
- 2025-07-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-025-00708-4
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.31
Funders
- Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales