TheTera-hertz Explorer (TEREX)[1] mission is a planned orbiter and lander that will be carrying aterahertz sensor to the surface ofMars to measure the oxygenisotope ratios of various molecules in theMartian atmosphere.[2] The objective of the mission is to understand the chain of chemical reactions that resupply the atmosphere with carbon dioxide.[2]
The lander,TEREX-1, was originally supposed to launch as a piggyback with another payload during the July 2020Mars launch window,[3] but this has subsequently been delayed to 2022[1] and then to the mid 2020s.[4] As of September 2017, no official launch arrangement with a primary mission had yet been reached.[5] The spacecraft will orbit Mars briefly before landing the instrument on the surface.[2][6] A dedicated orbiter,TEREX-2, was planned for launch in 2024. It will conduct a global survey of the Martian atmosphere and surface, focusing on water and oxygen levels.[1]
The preliminary lander's dimensions are a 50 cm cube,[6] and may have a mass of 140 kg (310 lb) including propellant.[6] Its landing system is proposed to employ an inflatableaeroshell decelerator, and anairbag.[9]
^abcMars Micro-Satellite for Terahertz Remote Sensing. Larsson, Richard; Kasai, Yasko; Kuroda, Takeshi; Maezawa, Hiroyuki; Manabe, Takeshi; Nishibori, Toshiyuki; Nakasuka, Shinichi; Wachi, Akifumi; Sagawa, Hideo. 19th EGU General Assembly, EGU2017, proceedings from the conference held 23–28 April 2017 in Vienna, Austria., p.18645. Published by the Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System.
Missions are ordered by launch date. Sign† indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned.‡ indicates use of the planet as agravity assist en route to another destination.
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