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Description
Between July 2005 and July 2011 Mars Express performed 50 Deimos approaches. 156 SRC images were acquired and used for astrometric (positional) measurements of the small Martian satellite. For this study, we have developed a new technique, where the center-of-figure of the odd-shaped Deimos was determined by fitting the predicted to the observed satellite limb. The prediction of the limb was made based on the moon's known shape model. The camera pointing was verified and corrected by means of background star observations. We obtained a set of spacecraft- centered Deimos coordinates with accuracies between 0.6 and 3.6km (1 sigma). Comparisons with current orbit models indicate that Deimos is ahead or falling behind its predicted position along its track by as much as +3.7km or -4.4km, respectively, depending on the chosen model. Our data may be used to improve the orbit models of the satellite.
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