Interplanetary geodesic study of the MMX project

Interplanetary geodesic study of the MMX project. This is the title of the internship project, upon which this report is written. It encloses in itself the main global topic of the entire project: the analysis of geodesic parameters within the context of the MMX mission. This mission organisation is led by the Japanese space JAXA, but the collaboration with the French government space agency CNES has been demanded for specific operational sectors. The internship was completely realised inside the CNES, and more precisely in the Geodesic Study DSO/DV/GS department, which takes part in the Groupe de Recherche de Géodésie Spatiale (GRGS, Space Geodesic Resarch Group). Effectively, the main mission scientific purpose is the more accurate evaluation possible of the geodesic features characterising the Martian moon Phobos, the primary MMX target. This internship project exactly is focused on the mission phases dedicated to Phobos exploration. This principal concern, leads to base the study development on the analysis of the specific trajectories, which will be covered by the MMX satellite around the target body: the Quasi-Satellite orbits (QSO). Moreover, along its QSO trajectory, the satellite will be sensed to realised different types of measurements, such as the DSN, LIDAR and Optical kinds. This feature determines the main project procedures, consisting in the simulation and reinterpretation of all the MMX measurements, for the purpose of reaching the restitution and the adjustment of one primary Phobos physical parameter: its gravitational field. The entire project analysis has been conducted through the employment of the accurate CNES software called GINS (Géodésie par Intégration Numérique Simultanée), able to compute trajectories and return planetary physic parameters, with an extreme precision level.