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Due to the complexity and relevance of the scientific problems they address, astrophysical exploration missions can be a fertile ground for technological spillover. In the past, various space technologies, particularly in telecommunications, transportation, health care, and even military defense, spilled over or have been transferred from Space Agencies to industrial sectors. The boundaries between these two kind of actions are not always defined, for this reason we use the two concepts interchangeably. This article presents the results of a study on spillovers generated by six of the most important astrophysical missions launched by the European Space Agency in the first two decades of this century. These are notably: Integral, Planck Surveyor, XMM-Newton, Agile, Solar Orbiter, and Plato. In addition to some positive social effects, the results of the survey highlight the relevance of some technological innovations realized by small enterprises and then "transferred" to the industrial sector. The results also indicate the financial and organizational obstacles that could limit the possibility of transfer and thus the wider dissemination of innovations obtained in the development path of the Missions. • Astrophysical exploration missions can be a fertile ground for technological spillover. • Astronomy can generate Earth Observation and defence applications.. • Industrialization, training activities and promotion are key drivers of spillovers from ESA Astrophysics missions. • Low formalization, unclear organizational roles and lack of a technology transfer culture are barries to spillovers.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its significance in astrobiology, assessing the amount and state of liquid water present on Mars today has become one of the drivers of its exploration. Subglacial water was identified by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard the European Space Agency spacecraft Mars Express through the analysis of echoes, coming from a depth of about 1.5 km, which were stronger than surface echoes. The cause of this anomalous characteristic is the high relative permittivity of water-bearing materials, resulting in a high reflection coefficient. A determining factor in the occurrence of such strong echoes is the low attenuation of the MARSIS radar pulse in cold water ice, the main constituent of the Martian polar caps. The present analysis clarifies that the conditions causing exceptionally strong subsurface echoes occur solely in the Martian polar caps, and that the detection of subsurface water under a predominantly rocky surface layer using radar sounding will require thorough electromagnetic modeling, complicated by the lack of knowledge of many subsurface physical parameters. Higher-frequency radar sounders such as SHARAD cannot penetrate deep enough to detect basal echoes over the thickest part of the polar caps. Alternative methods such as rover-borne Ground Penetrating Radar and time-domain electromagnetic sounding are not capable of providing global coverage. MARSIS observations over the Martian polar caps have been limited by the need to downlink data before on-board processing, but their number will increase in coming years. The Chinese mission to Mars that is to be launched in 2020, Tianwen-1, will carry a subsurface sounding radar operating at frequencies that are close to those of MARSIS, and the expected signal-to-noise ratio of subsurface detection will likely be sufficient for identifying anomalously bright subsurface reflectors. The search for subsurface water through radar sounding is thus far from being concluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]