Welcome to the Homepage for the 2nd International Planetary Probe Workshop.
We hope you find helpful information and that you'll join us for this exciting event!

The purpose of the second workshop (following a very successful first workshop in Lisbon Portugal, October 2003) is to continue to unite the community of planetary scientists, spacecraft engineers and mission designers and planners; whose expertise, experience and interests are in the areas of entry probe trajectory and attitude determination, and the aerodynamics/aerothermodynamics of planetary entry vehicles.

2004 is an exciting year for planetary exploration, with Mars lander missions and the first probe mission to Titan. The Workshop will address entry probe science, engineering challenges, mission design and instruments, along with the challenges of reconstruction of the entry, descent and landing or the aerocapture phases. Topics to be addressed will include methods, technologies, and algorithms currently employed; techniques and results from the rich history of entry probe science such as PAET, Venera/Vega, Pioneer Venus, Viking, Galileo, Mars Pathfinder and Mars MER; upcoming missions such as the imminent entry of Huygens and future Mars entry probes; and new and novel instrumentation and methodologies. The workshop format will include oral presentations, posters and group discussions, with workshop proceedings being published after the event.

Topics to be examined will include:

• Methods and applications, system analysis, technology development and mission design studies of entry and trajectory reconstructions for past, present, and future planetary entry probe missions, including aerocapture missions to Titan, Mars, Venus, Earth and the outer planets.
• Analysis techniques, limitations, predictions and post flight comparison of results.
• Instrumentation contributing to entry/descent trajectory analysis including (but not limited to) accelerometry, pressure and temperature measurements, radar altimeters, imaging, Doppler tracking, Probe Relay Link, etc.
• Novel Techniques, algorithms, and instrumentation for probe entry and descent trajectory reconstructions

Goals for the Workshop are:

1. To provide an important historical perspective on previous probe entry and descent reconstructions, and to develop the context within which current and future entry and descent trajectory analyses can be placed.
2. To review the current state of the art, the instrumentation, methodologies and algorithms currently in use, from conception to error recovery.
3. To involve young scientists and engineers and promote continued development in the field of entry probe trajectory analysis.
4. To serve as a platform to initiate discussions of innovative methodologies and techniques for future entry probe missions.
5. To foster international collaboration in the field.