MEX SPK Files ============= This "aareadme.txt" file describes the contents of the kernels/spk directory of the MEX SPICE data server. It also provides the file naming conventions used for the MEX SPK kernels, and it provides identification of the most current version of each kind of SPK file. Some of these SPK files are produced by an automated system located at ESAC, operated by the ESA SPICE Team. The contents and time span covered by any SPK file may be easily determined using the "brief" utility program available in all copies of the SPICE Toolkit. Example of usage: $ brief Descriptive information about how/why/when an SPK file was created is usually available in the "comment area" of the file. This may be viewed using the "commnt" utility program available in all copies of the SPICE Toolkit. Use the "-r" option to read the comments. Example: $ commnt -r All binary SPK files (*.BSP) contained in this directory are Unix binary files. These may be used as is (without format conversion) in a non-unix environment when using any recent version of the SPICE Toolkit (Version N0052 or later). Contact ESA SPICE Team spice@sciops.esa.int , or Alfredo Escalante Lopez aescalante@sciops.esa.int if you have any questions. References ========== 1. Data Delivery Interface Document (DDID) Appendix H - FD products Issue 3.0 (MEX-ESC-IF-5003) 2. SPK Required Reading (NAIF Document). 3. "Astrometric Observations of Phobos and Deimos with the SRC on Mars Express", Oberst, J. et al. Astronomy and Astrophysics. Accepted 07-Oct-2005 All the NAIF Documents are available at the NAIF web: http://naif.jpl.nasa.gov Mars Express SPK Directory Structure ==================================== aareadme.txt This file. former_versions Subdirectory that contains obsolete versions of the SPK files that have been updated in the Current SPK Kernels Set. C2013A1_S105_MERGED.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains ephemeris data for Comet Siding Spring. Spans the entire Mars Express mission. DE405.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains ephemeris data for planet barycenters, and for the sun, earth and moon mass centers. Spans the entire Mars Express mission. EARTHSTNS_ITRF93_YYMMDD.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains ephemeris data for NASA DSN stations relative to the terrestrial reference frame label 'ITR93'. This file was released on YY-MM-DD. ESTRACK_Vvv.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains the position for each of the ESA ESTRACK ground stations relative to the center of the Earth. In the interest of flexibility, in this file the reference frame is labeled with the alias 'EARTH_FIXED'. Any application using this file must map the alias 'EARTH_FIXED' to either 'ITRF93' or 'IAU_EARTH'. EARTHSTNS_RU_YYYYMMDD.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains the position for each of the Russian ground stations relative to the center of the Earth. MAR097_030101_300101_V0001.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains JPL ephemeris data for Phobos, Deimos, Mars and Earth. Spans the entire Mars Express mission. MEX_ASPERA_STRUCT_Vvv.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains relative locations of the ASPERA structures with respect to the spacecraft bus and each other. This SPK spans the entire Mars Express mission. MEX_PFS_ROIS_Vvv.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains position information for Mars Express Regions of Interest for the PFS instrument. MEX_RELAY_LOCATIONS_VVV.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains position information for selected landers and rovers for which Mars Express is a relay for. MEX_ROB_YYMMDD_yymmdd_vvv.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains high precision ephemeris for Mars Express (MEX), created by the Royal Observatory of Belgium. The kernels cover MEX position from YY-MM-DD to yy-mm-dd; vvv is the version number. MEX_STRUCT_Vvv.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains the location of various Mars-Express instruments and structures. ORHM_______________xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express spacecraft reconstructed cruise ephemeris. This ephemeris corresponds to the ESOC orbit file named: ORHM_FDLMMA_DA______________xxxxx.MEX where xxxxx designates the version number. ORMF_______________xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express spacecraft long term planning operational Mars centric ephemeris. This file is generated by merging the previous version of the kernel with the one generated from the latest ephemeris from the ESOC orbit file named: ORMF_FDLMMA_DA______________xxxxx.MEX ORMF___________T19_xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express spacecraft long term planning operational Mars centric ephemeris. This product is a Type 19 SPK kernel and requires at least the SPICE Toolkit N0065 to be used. This file is generated by merging the previous version of the kernel with the one generated from the latest ephemeris from the ESOC orbit file named: ORMF_FDLMMA_DA______________xxxxx.MEX where xxxxx designates the version number. This is the file that should be used for planning. For data analysis you have to use the ORMM files below. ORMF_YYMMDD_yymmdd_xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express spacecraft long term planning operational Mars centric ephemeris. This ephemeris corresponds to the ESOC orbit file named: ORMF_FDLMMA_DA______________xxxxx.MEX where xxxxx designates the version number and YY-MM-DD yy-mm-dd designate start and end dates. This is the file that should be used for planning. For data analysis ORMM files below should be used. ORMF_T19_YYMMDD_yymmdd_xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express spacecraft long term planning operational Mars centric ephemeris. This product is a Type 19 SPK kernel and requires at least the SPICE Toolkit N0065 to be used. This ephemeris corresponds to the ESOC orbit file named: ORMF_FDLMMA_DA______________xxxxx.MEX where xxxxx designates the version number and YY-MM-DD yy-mm-dd designate start and end dates. This is the file that should be used for planning. For data analysis ORMM files below should be used. ORMC_FD_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express spacecraft long term operational Mars centric ephemeris. These files are used as candidate orbits in order to analyse different options before implementing the long term operational orbit (ORMF). ORMM__YYMMDDhhmmss_xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express predicted and reconstructed ephemeris after orbit insertion, starting from YY-MM-DD. This ephemeris corresponds to the ESOC orbit file named: ORMM_FDLMMA_DA_YYMMDDhhmmss_xxxxx.MEX where xxxxx designates the version number. These are the files that should be used for data analysis. ORMM_T19_YYMMDDhhmmss_xxxxx.BSP SPICE Kernel (SPK) that contains Mars Express predicted and reconstructed ephemeris after orbit insertion, starting from YY-MM-DD. This product is a Type 19 SPK kernel and requires at least the SPICE Toolkit N0065 to be used. This ephemeris corresponds to the ESOC orbit file named: ORMM_FDLMMA_DA_YYMMDDhhmmss_xxxxx.MEX where xxxxx designates the version number. These are the files that should be used for data analysis. Note: Files EARTHSTNS_FX_yymmdd.BSP and EARTHSTNS_ITRF93_yymmdd.BSP contain the same data. These files only differ in that the second one use the reference frame label 'ITR93' instead of 'EARTH_FIXED'. 'EARTH_FIXED' alias must be map to either 'ITR93' or 'IAU_EARTH' before using the file. For high accuracy work, the EARTHSTNS_ITRF93_yymmdd.BSP is recommended (on the basis of ease of use). About Phobos and Deimos ephemeris ================================= The current Mars Express SPICE data set contains five SPKs giving ephemeris data for both Phobos and Deimos. Four out of the five files correspond to the JPL orbit solutions for both Mars' moons, and the third one to the ESOC orbit solutions. The official JPL SPK file, provided by NAIF and named MAR033_2000-2025, was used in the data analysis of HRSC/SRC images [Ref. 4]. In this analysis, the measured Phobos and Deimos positions have been compared with the JPL predictions. This comparison has shown that Phobos has advanced by approx. 12 km with respect to the JPL model, while the predicted Phobos positions in the across-track directions are off by only small amounts (+/- 1 km). Deimos observations show that this satellite has advanced by approx. 50 km, and is also off across-track by less than 1 km. The down-track offsets of 12 km and 50 km of the satellites' position can be removed by shifting in time the Phobos and Deimos ephemeris. This solution has been implemented and a new SPK kernel produced: MAR033_HRSC_V03.BSP This file solves the down-track offsets but there are still some across-track inconsistencies that remain, until a new orbit solution, more accurate, is provided. The third file, named MARSAT_ESA_040101_V01.BSP, was also used in the analysis of HRSC/SRC images [Ref. 4]. In this analysis, the measured Phobos and Deimos positions have been also compared with the ESOC predictions and the results are the following: Phobos' predicted position is 2 km ahead of the measured position, and it is off by +/- 8 km cross-track. Deimos' predicted position is 5 km ahead of the measured position, and it is off by +/-18 km cross-track. A comparison of official the ESOC and JPL orbit solutions of Phobos for epochs in 1989 show position differences over one Phobos orbital revolution ranging from 3 km to 7.5 km. These differences are mainly periodic. At the time frame of the ESOC file, 2004-2006, the same comparisons show larger differences over a Phobos orbital revolution, ranging from 6km to 22 km. The fourth file, MAR063.BSP is the official ephemeris from JPL, using MRO observations. This is the baseline kernel used for planning. The fifth solution, MAR080.BSP, is a slightly improvement over the previous one, using Mars Express data. ------------------- This file was last modified on March 22th, 2021. (R. Valles) End of aareadme file.