The goal is to build a medium resolution spectrograph with a sensitivity of 0.1 ppm in a device weighing 600 grams. This device is expected to be faster, less expensive, an order of magnitude smaller, and to require less power than existing mass spectrographs, making it useful for small spaceflight missions as well as for certain military and environmental applications. The primary objective was to perform a detailed investigation of Venus' thermospheric extreme ultraviolet emissions as a follow-on to SwRI's 1994 and 1995 flight investigations. During the last year, several improvements were made to the payload to increase its sensitivity by 50 percent and to increase the spectral resolution to more than twice the resolving power of the first Venus flight. Institute scientists maintain an active program in outer planet research, including theoretical modeling and observations, with recent emphasis on photochemical and auroral processes on Jupiter and Saturn.
Data suggest that the Saturnian aurora is responsible for a high-latitude haze layer.
More observations and data analyses are planned for late 1996. SwRI also continued to monitor Jupiter's X-ray emissions using an orbiting astronomical satellite. Scientists expect observations planned for late 1996 will support measurements made by the Galileo spacecraft, which began a series of orbits around Jupiter in late 1995. SwRI has developed the first module of a miniaturized multimission spacecraft control system. The Miniaturized Optimized Processor for Space, or MOPS6000, is one-fifteenth the size of a typical spacecraft computer.