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BepiColombo is a joint mission between the European Space Agency, ESA, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, to perform a comprehensive exploration of Mercury. Launched on 20 th October 2018 from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, the spacecraft is now en route to Mercury. Two orbiters have been sent to Mercury and will be put into dedicated, polar orbits around the planet to study the planet and its environment. One orbiter, Mio, is provided by JAXA, and one orbiter, MPO, is provided by ESA. The scientific payload of both spacecraft will provide detailed information necessary to understand the origin and evolution of the planet itself and its surrounding environment. Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun, the only terrestrial planet besides Earth with a self-sustained magnetic field, and the smallest planet in our Solar System. It is a key planet for understanding the evolutionary history of our Solar System and therefore also for the question of how the Earth and our Planetary System were formed. The scientific objectives focus on a global characterization of Mercury through the investigation of its interior, surface, exosphere, and magnetosphere. In addition, instrumentation onboard BepiColombo will be used to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Major effort was put into optimizing the scientific return of the mission by defining a payload such that individual measurements can be interrelated and complement each other.

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a high‐resolution, high‐precision imaging spectrometer, flew on board India's Chandrayaan‐1 Mission from October 2008 through August 2009. This paper describes some of the spatial sampling aspects of the instrument, the planned mission, and the mission as flown. We also outline the content and context of the resulting Level 1B spatial products that form part of the M3 archive. While designed and planned to operate for 2 years in a 100 km lunar orbit, M3 was able to meet its lunar coverage requirements despite the shortened mission; an increase of the orbit altitude to 200 km; and several relevant problems with spacecraft attitude, timing, and ephemeris. The unexpected spacecraft issues required us to invent a novel two‐step approach for selenolocation. Leveraging newly available Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter‐Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) topography and an improved spacecraft ephemeris, we have created a method that permits us to bootstrap spacecraft attitude estimates from the image data themselves. This process performs a nonlinear optimization to honor a set of data‐derived image‐to‐image tie points and image‐to‐LOLA control points. Error analysis of the final results suggests we have converged to a selenolocation result that has image‐to‐image root‐mean‐square (RMS) errors less than 200 m and image‐to‐LOLA RMS errors less than 450 m, despite using data‐derived spacecraft attitude results. The Level 1B products include the lunar coordinates resulting from this inversion process and 10 relevant observational geometry parameters that fully characterize the ray tracing geometry on a pixel‐by‐pixel basis. Key Points Moon Mineralogy Mapper spatial characteristics Selenodesy results for M3 mapping M3 Level 1B archive product description

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a potential target for cancer therapy. It functions as a growth regulating protein implicated in the TSC1–TSC2 –mTOR pathway or a guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor for the elongation factors EF1A and EF1B β . Accumulating evidence indicates that TCTP also functions as an antiapoptotic protein, through a hitherto unknown mechanism. In keeping with this, we show here that loss of tctp expression in mice leads to increased spontaneous apoptosis during embryogenesis and causes lethality between E6.5 and E9.5. To gain further mechanistic insights into this apoptotic function, we solved and refined the crystal structure of human TCTP at 2.0 Å resolution. We found a structural similarity between the H2–H3 helices of TCTP and the H5–H6 helices of Bax, which have been previously implicated in regulating the mitochondrial membrane permeability during apoptosis. By site-directed mutagenesis we establish the relevance of the H2–H3 helices in TCTP's antiapoptotic function. Finally, we show that TCTP antagonizes apoptosis by inserting into the mitochondrial membrane and inhibiting Bax dimerization. Together, these data therefore further confirm the antiapoptotic role of TCTP in vivo and provide new mechanistic insights into this key function of TCTP.

Studying comets is believed to bring invaluable clues on the formation and evolution of our planetary system. In comparison to planets, they have undergone much less alteration, and should have therefore retained a relatively pristine record of the conditions prevailing during the early phases of the solar system. However, comets might not be entirely pristine. As of today, we have not been able to determine which of the observed physical, chemical and orbital characteristics of comets, after they have evolved for more than 4 Gyr in a time-varying radiative and collisional environment, will provide the best clues to their origin. Comet physical characteristics as inherited from their formation stage may be very diverse, both in terms of composition and internal structure. The subsequent evolution of comet nuclei involves some possible processing from radiogenic heating, space weathering and large- and small-scale collisions, which might have modified their primordial structures and compositions with various degrees. When comets enter the inner solar system and become active, they start to lose mass at a very high rate. The effects of activity on comet nuclei involve a layering of the composition, a substantial non-even erosion and modification of their size and shape, and may eventually result in the death of comets. In this review, we present the dominating processes that might affect comet physical and chemical properties at different stages of their evolution. Although the evolutionary track may be specific to each comet, we can focus on long-lasting modifications which might be common to all nuclei after their formation stage, during their storage in reservoirs in the outer solar system, and once comets enter the inner solar system and become active objects.

The last major phases of lunar volcanism produced spectrally unique high‐titanium basalts on the western nearside of the Moon. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on Chandrayaan‐1 has provided detailed measurements of these basalts at spatial and spectral resolutions necessary for mineralogical interpretation and mapping of distinct compositional units. The M3 imaging spectrometer acquired data in 85 spectral bands from ∼430 to 3000 nm at 140 to 280 m/pixel in its global mapping mode during the first half of 2009. Reflectance data of several key sites in the western maria were also acquired at higher spatial and spectral resolutions using M3's target mode, prior to the end of the Chandrayaan‐1 mission. These new observations confirm that both fresh craters and mare soils within the western high‐Ti basalts display strong 1 μm and weak 2 μm absorptions consistent with olivine‐rich basaltic compositions. The inferred abundance of olivine is observed to correlate with stratigraphic sequence across different mare regions and absolute ages. The apparent stratigraphic evolution and Fe‐rich compositions of these basalts as a whole suggest an origin from evolved residual melts rather than through the assimilation of more primitive olivine‐rich sources. Mare deposits with spectral properties similar to these late stage high‐Ti basalts appear to be very limited outside the Procellarum‐Imbrium region of the Moon and, where present, appear to occur as small areas of late stage regional volcanism. Detailed analyses of these new data and supporting measurements are in progress to provide further constraints on the mineralogy, olivine abundance, and compositions of these final products of lunar volcanism and the nature and evolution of their source regions.

High‐resolution compositional data from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) for the Moscoviense region on the lunar farside reveal three unusual, but distinctive, rock types along the inner basin ring. These are designated “OOS” since they are dominated by high concentrations of orthopyroxene, olivine, and Mg‐rich spinel, respectively. The OOS occur as small areas, each a few kilometers in size, that are widely separated within the highly feldspathic setting of the basin rim. Although the abundance of plagioclase is not well constrained within the OOS, the mafic mineral content is exceptionally high, and two of the rock types could approach pyroxenite and harzburgite in composition. The third is a new rock type identified on the Moon that is dominated by Mg‐rich spinel with no other mafic minerals detectable (<5% pyroxene, olivine). All OOS surfaces are old and undisturbed since basin formation. They are effectively invisible in image data and are only recognized by their distinctive composition identified spectroscopically. The origin of these unusual lithologies appears to be linked to one or more magmatic intrusions into the lower crust, perhaps near the crust‐mantle interface. Processes such as fractional crystallization and gravity settling within such intrusions may provide a mechanism for concentrating the mafic components within zones several kilometers in dimension. The OOS are embedded within highly anorthositic material from the lunar crust; they may thus be near contemporaneous with crustal products from the cooling magma ocean. Key Points A new rock type has been discovered on the Moon: a lithology rich in Mg‐spinel This Mg‐spinel rock occurs with pyroxenite and harzburgite in the lower crust The three distinct lower crust rock types were exposed by Moscoviense Basin

Concentrated hyaluronic acid (HA) gels with a high degree of cross-linking such as Cohesive Polydensified Matrix (CPM) HA have been designed for long-term facial volume restoration. To determine the behavior and longevity of CPM HA gel, a case series of subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans several years after their initial treatment. Six subjects, three from the initial CPM HA Conformité Européenne registration study and three from private practice who had received prior injection of CPM HA for facial volumizing indications agreed to undergo an MRI or CT scan at intervals ranging from 1 to 4 years after the initial treatment. The amount of HA gel originally injected was compared with the amount estimated from volumetric analysis of the MRI and CT scans. The scans were also examined for the signs of any abscess or granuloma formation and to determine the behavior of the HA gel over time. CT and MRI imaging of the six study subjects indicated CPM HA gel persisted for 2-4 years after only a single treatment. In some patients, product was evident in deeper facial fat compartments than originally injected suggesting some diffusion of product had occurred. There was no MRI or CT evidence of abscess or granuloma formation. Our findings indicate that CPM HA volumizing gel has substantial longevity when injected subcutaneously or in deep soft tissues.

Changes in observed photometric intensity on a planetary surface are caused by variations in local viewing geometry defined by the radiance incidence, emission, and solar phase angle coupled with a wavelength‐dependent surface phase function f(α, λ) which is specific for a given terrain. In this paper we provide preliminary empirical models, based on data acquired inflight, which enable the correction of Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) spectral images to a standard geometry with the effects of viewing geometry removed. Over the solar phase angle range for which the M3 data were acquired our models are accurate to a few percent, particularly where thermal emission is not significant. Our models are expected to improve as additional refinements to the calibrations occur, including improvements to the flatfield calibration; improved scattered and stray light corrections; improved thermal model corrections; and the computation of more accurate local incident and emission angles based on surface topography. Key Points M3 spectral images are used to generate wavelength‐dependent photometric models The empirical models treat lunar mare and highland regions separately The models enable the correction of M3 spectral images to a standard geometry

Using the Moon Mineralogy Mapper(M3), we examine the Marius Hills volcanic complex for the first time from 0.46 to 2.97 μm. The integrated band depth at 1 μm separates the mare basalts on the plateau in two units: (1) a strong 1 μm band unit of localized lava flows within the plateau that has similar olivine‐rich signatures to those of the nearby Oceanus Procellarum and (2) a weaker 1 μm band unit that characterizes most of the basalts of the plateau, which is interpreted as having a high‐calcium pyroxene signature. Domes and cones within the complex belong to the high‐calcium pyroxene plateau unit and are associated with the weakest 1 μm band observed on the plateau. This difference could be the result of higher silica content, more opaque minerals, and/or a weaker olivine content of the magma. Finally, the floor of Marius crater has one of the strongest olivine‐rich signatures of the entire Marius Hills complex. These compositional differences are indicative of the long and complex volcanic history of the region. The first episode started before the emplacement of the surrounding basalts of the plateau and produced the high‐calcium pyroxene flows present on the plateau and their associated domes and cones. The second episode occurred concurrently or slightly after the emplacement of the adjacent Procellarum basalts and produced the olivine‐rich basalts seen within the plateau, outside the plateau, and in Marius crater. If the olivine content of the lava flows increases with time, the olivine‐rich region on the floor of Marius crater may represent one of the latest episodes of volcanism exposed on the Marius Hills complex. Key Points First observations of the Marius Hills Complex in the near‐infrared domain Information on the history of Oceanus Procellarum