Nozomi (Japanese for Hope and known before launch as Planet-B) is a Mars orbiting aeronomy
mission designed to study the martian upper atmosphere
and its interaction with the solar wind and to develop technologies for use in future
planetary missions. Specifically, instruments on the spacecraft,
such as the Mars Imaging Camera will condcut experiments to measure the structure, composition and
dynamics of the ionosphere, aeronomy effects of the solar wind, the escape of atmospheric
constituents, the intrinsic magnetic field, the penetration of the solar-wind magnetic
field, the structure of the magnetosphere, and dust in the upper atmosphere and in orbit
around Mars. The mission will also be returning images
of Mars' surface with intensive press releases.
