Highlights: We measured 2336 fractures in thirteen floor-fractured craters (FFC) on Ceres. Floor-fractured craters on Ceres share similarities with FFCs on other planetary bodies especially those on the Moon and Mars. On Ceres some floor-fractured craters are impact-driven; other appear to be related to coolingmelting processes, outgassing and/or tectonics such as doming of the subsurface. Fracture studies point out brittle surface materials.
After almost three years of successful operation on Ceres, the Dawn spacecraft entered its last orbits around the dwarf planet and obtained a set of high-resolution images of 3 to 5 m/pixel. These images reveal a variety of morphologic features, including a set of asymmetric crater morphologies as observed earlier in the mission on the asteroid Vesta. We identified 269 craters, which are located between 60° N to 60° S latitude and 197° E to 265° E longitude, and investigated their morphological characteristics using a digital terrain model (DTM). These craters range in diameter from 0.30 to 4.2 km, and exhibit a sharp crater rim on the uphill side and a smooth one on the downhill side. We found that all asymmetric craters are formed on a sloping surface with the majority appearing at slope angles between 5 and 20 degrees. This implies that, as observed on Vesta, the topography is the main cause for these asymmetries.
The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) is the first European laser altimeter constructed for interplanetary flight. BELA uses a 50 mJ pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at 10 Hz with a 20 cm aperture receiver to perform the ranging. The instrument also uses a digital approach for range detection and pulse analysis. The ranging accuracy is expected to be better than 2 metres and ∼20 cm in optimum conditions. With the given, only slightly elliptical, orbit, BELA should return a consistent data set for the most if not all of the planet. The instrument is required to function in an extreme environment with the thermal issues being particularly demanding. Novel solutions have been taken to resolve these issues. BELA is described in detail and its predicted performance outlined on the basis of pre-flight testing.
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