The methane mystery on Mars has had many twists and turns in recent years with unexpected detections and non-detections alike. Most recent is the detection in June by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which reported the highest burst of methane recorded yet. However, neither ESA’s Mars Express nor the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter recorded any signs of the elusive gas, despite flying over the same location at a similar time.
Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyPhysics and chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets, and of outer space.
‘Comet Interceptor’ has been selected as ESA’s new fast-class mission in its Cosmic Vision Programme. Comprising three spacecraft, it will be the first to visit a truly pristine comet or other interstellar object that is only just starting its journey into the inner Solar System. As with Rosetta, the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) will also play an important role in this comet mission. The launch is foreseen at the earliest in 2027.
Today, the prestigious journal Nature publishes two papers describing the first results of the Belgian NOMAD instrument on board ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. New evidence of the impact of the recent planet-encompassing dust storm on water in the atmosphere, including the first vertical measurements of semiheavy water on Mars, and a surprising lack of methane, are among the scientific highlights of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter’s first year in orbit. Principal Investigator of the NOMAD instrument, Ann Carine Vandaele at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy is delighted with these results.
On Friday, April 13, 2018, the Danish ASIM experiment was installed on the outside of the European Columbus module of the ISS International Space Station. The instrument gives us insight into the luminous phenomena that take place over violent thunderstorms. The Belgian B.USOC is responsible for the infrastructure and operations of ASIM.
Formic acid contributes significantly to acid rain in remote environments. Direct sources of formic acid include human activities, biomass burning and plant leaves. Aside from these direct sources, sunlight-induced oxidation of non-methane hydrocarbons (largely of biogenic origin) is probably the largest source.