Miniaturized LIDAR for Mars atmospheric research

Studying the climate on Mars has been a topic for scientific curiosity since long time already. As on Earth, the composition of the Martian atmosphere is a key factor for understanding the climate, which is of vital importance to enable future human exploration of the red planet. The use of Atmospheric LIDAR to characterize densities and sizes of aerosol with a height profile, is commonly used on Earth. However Earth instruments are heavy and with high power consumptions, which make them not easily on-boardables for planetary exploration.

MiLi proposes to higher the TRL of 3 basic technologies to enable the construction of a lighter (4Kg) and less power (15 W) miniaturized LIDAR for Mars atmospheric research. 

In MiLi, the CINN is targeting the challenge of developing suitable nanocomposites featuring the required mechanical and thermal properties.