Instruments

TIRI

Thermal Infra Red Imager

TIRI is a contribution by ISAS and the JAXA (Japan eXploration Agency), manufactured by MEC. Investigation of thermo-physical properties of Apophis, especially thermal inertia, and distribution of materials.

Parameters

Hamlet

Hyperspectral Imager

Based on Hera Hyperscout-H, Observing in 45 visible and near-infrared spectral bands, the HyperScout hyperspectral imager is developed by Cosine Research and INAF IAP in Italy and will contribute to the geological and compositional investigation of the asteroid. It will facilitate the identification and quantification of silicate minerals (modal abundances of olivine, orthopyroxene, & clinopyroxene, their Fe, Mg, and Ca content).

Parameters (NIR Channel)

Parameters (SWIR Channel)

CHANCES
Colour High-resolution Apophis Narrow-angle CamEra System 

Multispectral Imager

A Comet-I CoCa adaptation from Uni Bern (CH) and LAM (FR). Vis-NIR multispectral imaging system (~400 to ~1700 nm). High resolution images, i.e., ~1.5 cm at closest approach - covering the part of the near-Infrared spectrum and including the 1-μm absorption band and reflectance maximum at 1.6 μm for the unambiguous determination of the asteroid’s class and its possible change as it passes through Earth’s gravity field.

Parameters

PALT-H
Planetary ALTimeter

Hera Rebuilt, Dual use as GNC sensor.

The Planetary ALTimeter (PALT) is a LIDAR experiment that determines the distance to the asteroids by measuring the time of flight of a laser beam at 1.5 μm wavelength with a footprint of 1 mrad (i.e. the diameter of the footprint is 10m at a distance of 10 km). The accuracy of the distance measurement is 0.5 m, the laser wavelength of 1.535 μm

PALT supports spacecraft navigation, from fly-by to landing operations, and provide scientific data, such as relative velocity, falling velocity and reflectance measurements at laser wavelength. It can support the development of the asteroid shape model and mass measurement (which allows an estimate of the bulk density) as well as the determination of the surface topography.

Parameters

RPS
Ramses Plasma Spectrometer

RPS is a German contribution (supported by DLR) that will provide the first-ever detailed in-situ measurements of an asteroid’s plasma environment, offering key insights into its surface composition and weathering, plasma wake formation, and fundamental space plasma physics at kinetic scales.

Parameters

Radio Science

The Ramses radio science experiment (RSE) will contribute to the determination of the binary system’s mass, gravity field and rotational state and orbits, through processing of Doppler and ranging measurements, as well as optical images. The experiment includes classical ground-based radiometric measurements between RAMSES and ground stations on Earth by means of a standard two-way X-band link, images of Apophis taken by the on-board camera(s), and satellite-to-satellite radiometric tracking between RAMSES and the Cubesats. The latter measurement, the so-called Inter-satellite link (ISL), represents a crucial add-on to the gravity estimation of low-gravity bodies by exploiting the proximity of the Cubesats to the asteroid, as the range-rate measurements carried out by the inter-satellite link contain important information.