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Advances in Exploring the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids Based on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Satellite Missions for Earth and Planetary Exploration".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 4891

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Simone Pirrotta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Italian Space Agency, Via del Politecnico snc, 00133 Rome, Italy
Interests: exploration architectures; space project management
Dr. Francesca Esposito

E-Mail
Guest Editor
INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte, Salita Moiariello 16, 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: exploration; Moon, Mars; asteroids; comets; dust
Dr. Alice Lucchetti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
Interests: asteroid geomorphology; planetary defense; spectrophotometry
Dr. Maurizio Pajola

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
Interests: Mars robotic and human landing sites; phobos and asteroids surface morphological analyses

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The most intriguing questions in space science are related to the origins and evolution of the Solar System and to the possible emergence of life outside Earth. Moreover, the Moon, Mars, and asteroids have the unique additional relevance of being potential destinations for exploration by astronauts, with the aim of expanding the human presence in space beyond our planet while also accomplishing scientific investigations. Hence, the characterization of these environments can also be oriented to assess habitability aspects, in preparation for future crewed missions. Geological features, the study of the environment (e.g., atmosphere, exosphere, dust, plasma, radiation) and related hazards for exploration, and the occurrence of resources or threads are clear examples of areas of interest which interconnect science and robotic/human exploration.

This Special Issue intends to capture recent achievements and future trends in robotic exploration enabled by remote sensing and other in situ measurements techniques. Data collected by planetary orbiters, landers, and rovers have already contributed to our understanding of other celestial bodies. These necessary instruments are expected to improve in terms of performance while reducing their size, mass, and resource needs in order to comply with the actual trends, like smallsats for exploration.

The solicited papers for the proposed Special Issue will cover scientific traditional topics and novel areas like innovative strategies for interplanetary transfer and observation, the characterization of planetary environments, the identification of space resources/reserves, potential habitability assessment, and new payloads for small satellites.

Dr. Simone Pirrotta
Dr. Francesca Esposito
Dr. Alice Lucchetti
Dr. Maurizio Pajola
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • geological features
  • study of the environment
  • resources
  • robotic and human exploration
  • innovative strategies
  • remote sensing dataset analyses
  • new instrumentation concepts
  • smallsat concepts

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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12 pages, 7748 KiB  
Article
MoonLIGHT and MPAc: The European Space Agency’s Next-Generation Lunar Laser Retroreflector for NASA’s CLPS/PRISM1A (CP-11) Mission
by Marco Muccino, Michele Montanari, Rudi Lauretani, Alejandro Remujo Castro, Laura Rubino, Ubaldo Denni, Raffaele Rodriquez, Lorenzo Salvatori, Mattia Tibuzzi, Luciana Filomena, Lorenza Mauro, Douglas Currie, Giada Bargiacchi, Emmanuele Battista, Salvatore Capozziello, Mauro Maiello, Luca Porcelli, Giovanni Delle Monache and Simone Dell’Agnello
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(5), 813; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050813 - 26 Feb 2025
Viewed by 640
Abstract
Since 1969, 55 years ago, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) has provided accurate and precise (down to ~1 cm RMS) measurements of the Moon’s orbit thanks to the Apollo and Lunokhod Cube Corner Retroreflector (CCR) Laser Retroreflector Arrays (LRAs) deployed on the Moon. Nowadays, [...] Read more.
Since 1969, 55 years ago, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) has provided accurate and precise (down to ~1 cm RMS) measurements of the Moon’s orbit thanks to the Apollo and Lunokhod Cube Corner Retroreflector (CCR) Laser Retroreflector Arrays (LRAs) deployed on the Moon. Nowadays, the current level of precision of these measurements is largely limited by the lunar librations affecting the old generation of LRAs. To improve this situation, next-generation libration-free retroreflectors are necessary. To this end, the Satellite/lunar/GNSS laser ranging/altimetry and cube/microsat Characterization Facilities Laboratory (SCF_Lab) at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare—Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (INFN-LNF), in collaboration with the University of Maryland (UMD) and supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), developed MoonLIGHT (Moon Laser Instrumentation for General relativity High-accuracy Tests), a single large CCR with a front face diameter of 100 mm, nominally unaffected by librations, and with optical performances comparable to the Apollo/Lunokhod LRAs of CCRs. Such a big CCR (hereafter, ML100) is mounted into a specifically devised, designed, and manufactured robotic actuator, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the so-called MoonLIGHT Pointing Actuator (MPAc), which, once its host craft has landed on the Moon, will finely align the front face of the ML100 towards the Earth. The (optical) performances of such a piece of hardware, MoonLIGHT+MPAc, were tested in/by the SCF_Lab in order to ensure that it was space flight ready before its integration onto the deck of the host craft. After its successful deployment on the Moon, additional and better-quality LLR data (down to ~ 1 mm RMS or better for the contribution of the laser retroreflector instrument, MoonLIGHT, to the total LLR error budget) will be available to the community for future and enhanced tests of gravitational theories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Exploring the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids Based on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements)
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17 pages, 6473 KiB  
Communication
Terrestrial and Martian Paleo-Hydrologic Environment Systematic Comparison with ASI PRISMA and NASA CRISM Hyperspectral Instruments
by Angelo Zinzi, Paola Manzari, Veronica Camplone, Eleonora Ammannito, Giuseppe Sindoni, Francesco Zucca and Gianluca Polenta
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(5), 758; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050758 - 22 Feb 2025
Viewed by 427
Abstract
The comparative analysis of hyperspectral data from different instruments can provide detailed information on the composition and geology of similar environments on different planets. This study aims to compare data acquired from the PRISMA satellite, used for Earth observation, with those collected by [...] Read more.
The comparative analysis of hyperspectral data from different instruments can provide detailed information on the composition and geology of similar environments on different planets. This study aims to compare data acquired from the PRISMA satellite, used for Earth observation, with those collected by the CRISM spectrometer onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, orbiting Mars, in order to analyze the geological and mineralogical differences between the morphologies present on the two planets of interest. The comparison of these data will allow us to examine the mineralogical composition, highlighting the similarities and differences between the terrestrial and Martian environments. In particular, in this study, we present a method to refine the interpretation of spectral features of minerals commonly found in paleo-hydrological environments on Mars and identified also by field analysis of similar terrestrial sites, thus allowing us to improve the Martian sites’ characterization. Thanks to this approach, we have been able to find spectral similarities (e.g., band positions, band ratios) among specific Earth and Mars sites, thus demonstrating that it could be further expanded, by systematically using Earth-observation orbiting instruments to better characterize and constrain Martian spectral data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Exploring the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids Based on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements)
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24 pages, 3576 KiB  
Article
Preliminary Trajectory Analysis of CubeSats with Electric Thrusters in Nodal Flyby Missions for Asteroid Exploration
by Alessandro A. Quarta
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(3), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17030513 - 1 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 591
Abstract
This paper studies the performance of an interplanetary CubeSat equipped with a continuous-thrust primary propulsion system in a heliocentric mission scenario, which models a nodal flyby with a potential near-Earth asteroid. In particular, the mathematical model discussed in this work considers a small [...] Read more.
This paper studies the performance of an interplanetary CubeSat equipped with a continuous-thrust primary propulsion system in a heliocentric mission scenario, which models a nodal flyby with a potential near-Earth asteroid. In particular, the mathematical model discussed in this work considers a small array of (commercial) miniaturized electric thrusters installed onboard a typical CubeSat, whose power-generation system is based on the use of classic solar panels. The paper also discusses the impact of the size of thrusters’ array on the nominal performance of the transfer mission by analyzing the trajectory of the CubeSat from an optimization point of view. In this context, the propulsive characteristics of a commercial electric thruster which corresponds to a iodine-fueled gridded ion-propulsion system are considered in this study, while the proposed procedure can be easily extended to a generic continuous-thrust propulsion system whose variation in thrust magnitude and specific impulse as a function of the input electric power is a known analytic function. Using an indirect approach, the paper illustrates the optimal guidance law, which allows the interplanetary CubeSat to reach a given solar distance, with the minimum flight time, by starting from a circular (ecliptic) parking orbit of assigned radius. The mission scenario is purely two-dimensional and models a rapid nodal flyby with a near-Earth asteroid whose nodal distance coincides with the solar distance to be reached. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Exploring the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids Based on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements)
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29 pages, 3568 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Quantification Through Minimum Redundancy and Maximum Relevance-Based Feature Selection
by Manping Wang, Yang Lu, Man Liu, Fuhui Cui, Rongke Gao, Feifei Wang, Xiaozhe Chen and Liandong Yu
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(3), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17030416 - 25 Jan 2025
Viewed by 841
Abstract
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rapid, non-contact analytical technique that is widely applied in various fields. However, the high dimensionality and information redundancy of LIBS spectral data present challenges for effective model development. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the [...] Read more.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rapid, non-contact analytical technique that is widely applied in various fields. However, the high dimensionality and information redundancy of LIBS spectral data present challenges for effective model development. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the minimum redundancy and maximum relevance (mRMR) method for feature selection in LIBS spectral data and to explore its adaptability across different predictive modeling approaches. Using the ChemCam LIBS dataset, we constructed predictive models with four quantitative methods: random forest (RF), support vector regression (SVR), back propagation neural network (BPNN), and partial least squares regression (PLSR). We compared the performance of mRMR-based feature selection with that of full-spectrum data and three other feature selection methods: competitive adaptive re-weighted sampling (CARS), Regressional ReliefF (RReliefF), and neighborhood component analysis (NCA). Our results demonstrate that the mRMR method significantly reduces the number of selected features while improving model performance. This study validates the effectiveness of the mRMR algorithm for LIBS feature extraction and highlights the potential of feature selection techniques to enhance predictive accuracy. The findings provide a valuable strategy for feature selection in LIBS data analysis and offer significant implications for the practical application of LIBS in predicting elemental content in geological samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Exploring the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids Based on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements)
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14 pages, 4842 KiB  
Technical Note
Mare Volcanism in Apollo Basin Evaluating the Mare Basalt Genesis Models on the Moon
by Xiaohui Fu, Chengxiang Yin, Jin Li, Jiang Zhang, Siyue Chi, Jian Chen and Bo Li
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(21), 4078; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16214078 - 31 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1048
Abstract
The Apollo basin is a well-preserved double-ringed impact basin located on the northeastern edge of the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin. The Apollo basin has been flooded and filled with large volumes of mare lavas, indicating an active volcanism history. Based on orbital data, [...] Read more.
The Apollo basin is a well-preserved double-ringed impact basin located on the northeastern edge of the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin. The Apollo basin has been flooded and filled with large volumes of mare lavas, indicating an active volcanism history. Based on orbital data, we reveal that the Apollo basin exhibits an overall asymmetric configuration in the distribution of mare basalts as well as its topography, chemical compositions, and crustal thickness. The Apollo basin is an excellent example for assessing the influences of the above factors on mare basalts petrogenesis and evaluating mare basalt genesis models. It was found that the generation of mare basalt magmas and their emplacement in the Apollo basin seems to be strongly related to local thin crust (<30 km), but the formation of basaltic magmas should be independent of the decompression melting because the mare units (3.34–1.79 Ga) are much younger than the pre-Nectarian Apollo basin. The mare basalts filled in the Apollo basin exhibits a large variation of TiO2 abundances, indicating the heterogeneity of mantle sources, which is possible due to the lunar mantle overturn after the LMO solidification or the impact-induced mantle convection and migration. However, the prolonged mare volcanic history of the Apollo basin is not well explained, especially considering the low Th abundance (<2 ppm) of this region. In addition, the central mare erupted earlier than other mare units within the Apollo basin, which seems to contradict the predictions of the postbasin loading-induced stresses model. Laboratory investigations of the Chang’E-6 mare basalt samples could possibly answer the above questions and provide new insight into the mare volcanic history of the lunar farside and the connections between mare volcanism and impact basin formation/evolution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Exploring the Moon, Mars, and Asteroids Based on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements)
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