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Our research activities focus on upstream engineering topics closely related to missions, but we also work on downstream applications such as scientific analyses of mission data obtained on various planetary bodies. Below, the non-exhaustive overview of ongoing projects lists per year the project titles, the main applicant and funding call.
Missions & Instrumentation
2025
- Life Marker Chip (LMCOOL) – Dr. N. Ligterink, NSO Instrumentation programme
Research Projects
2025
- Habitability of Uranian moons – Dr. M. Rovira Navarro, NWO Veni talent scheme
- LeakingOceans: From Buried Ocean to Surface Ice: Spectral Signatures of Leaking Oceans on Icy Moons – Dr. S.M. Cazaux, ERC Advanced Grant
- Volcanic degassing of phosphorus on Venus and implications for cloud habitability – Dr. E.S. Steenstra, NWO ENW-XS
- The Search for Life on Icy Moons: Sampling Particles from Enceladus’ Ocean – Dr. S.M. Cazaux, NWA Small Projects
2024
- Experimental insights into the origin of the largest lava river flows on Venus – Dr. E.S. Steenstra, NWO Open Competition
- PRELIFE – Pathways, Reactions, and Environments leading to LIFE: An interdisciplinary approach – PI: Prof. dr. ir. I.L. ten Kate et al. (UU), NWA-ORC, various staff members involved
- Elucidating tidal dissipation through open science: a window on the evolution of Titan and the Saturnian system from radio science and astrometry – Dr. ir. D. Dirkx, NWO-GO
- From orbit to outcrop: teaching planetary science using hands-on material analogues – Dr. S.J. de Vet, NRO Comenius
- Netherlands Expertise Network on Observables of Planetary Habitability – Prof. dr. W. van Westrenen et al. (VU), NSO, various staff members involved. Visit project website
- 4D Dynamic Earth – B.C. Root (PI), European Space Agency. Visit project website
2023
- Where Jupiter’s volcano moon get its heat? – Dr. ir. W. van der Wal , NWO-GO
- Volatile Element Cycles on Venus: Implications for the Evolution of Venus´ Greenhouse-Dominated Atmosphere (VenusVolAtmos) – Dr. E.S. Steenstra, ERC Starting Grant
- Gravity Reveals Dynamic Support of Martian Volcanoes – Dr. ir. B.C. Root, NWO-GO
- Drone-assisted meteorite searching using AI – Dr. S.J. de Vet, Paneth Meteorite Trust, Royal Astronomical Society
