Course Contents Lectures by topical experts give deeper insight and understanding in planetary sciences topics, with an emphasis on applied
technologies, and previous, current and future space missions, as well as data analysis.
Lecture topics include: Planetary missions, space missions at ESA, JUICE mission to the Jupiter system, Earth observation,
Gravity missions, Harmony mission for Earth observation, space dust, radiation & space weather, re-entry.
Students will work in groups (generally 6 students) on the conceptual design of a planetary space mission. The focus is on
coming up with the science question (the "why" of the mission) and the instruments and operations needed to answer the science
questions.
Study Goals After completion, the student should be able to:
- Explain the phases of a planetary mission, from concept to end-of-life.
- Deduce science questions from the literature that can form the basis for a competitive planetary mission proposal
- Describe the road map from quantities measured by a space mission to answers of the science questions
- Produce a conceptual design of a planetary mission in a team, taking into account the state-of-the-art in instrument
development and current and past missions.
- Present in writing an orally a competitive proposal for a planetary mission
