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This paper deals with tests of general relativity (GR) in the Solar System using tracking observables from planetary spacecraft. We present a new software that simulates the Range and Doppler signals resulting from a given spacetime metric. This flexible approach allows one to perform simulations in GR as well as in alternative metric theories of gravity. The outputs of this software provide templates of anomalous residuals that should show up in real data if the underlying theory of gravity is not GR. Those templates can be used to give a rough estimation of constraints on additional parameters entering alternative theory of gravity and also signatures that can be searched for in data from past or future space missions aiming at testing gravitational laws in the Solar System. As an application of the potentiality of this software, we present some simulations performed for Cassini-like mission in post-Einsteinian gravity and in the context of MOND external field effect. We derive signatures arising from these alternative theories of gravity and estimate expected amplitudes of the anomalous residuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: GAIA will provide observations of some multiple asteroid and dwarf systems. These observations are a way to determine and improve the quantification of dynamical parameters, such as the masses and the gravity fields, in these multiple systems. Here we investigate this problem in the cases of Pluto''s and Eugenia''s system. We simulate observations reproducing an approximate planning of the GAIA observations for both systems, as well as the New Horizons observations of Pluto. We have developed a numerical model reproducing the specific behavior of multiple asteroid system around the Sun and fit it to the simulated observations using least-square method, giving the uncertainties on the fitted parameters. We found that GAIA will improve significantly the precision of Pluto''s and Charon''s mass, as well as Petit Prince''s orbital elements and Eugenia''s polar oblateness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Context. Earth-like planets have viscoelastic mantles, whereas giant planets may have viscoelastic cores. The tidal dissipation of these solid regions, which are gravitationally perturbed by a companion body, strongly depends on their rheology and the tidal frequency. Therefore, modeling tidal interactions provides constraints on planets' properties and helps us to understand their history and evolution, in either our solar system or exoplanetary systems. Aims. We examine the equilibrium tide in the anelastic parts of a planet for every rheology, and by taking into account the presence of a fluid envelope of constant density. We show how to obtain the different Love numbers describing its tidal deformation, and discuss how the tidal dissipation in the solid parts depends on the planet's internal structure and rheology. Finally, we show how our results may be implemented to describe the dynamical evolution of planetary systems. Methods. We expand in Fourier series the tidal potential exerted by a point mass companion, and express the dynamical equations in the orbital reference frame. The results are cast in the form of a complex disturbing function, which may be implemented directly in the equations governing the dynamical evolution of the system. Results. The first manifestation of the tide is to distort the shape of the planet adiabatically along the line of centers. The response potential of the body to the tidal potential then defines the complex Love numbers, whose real part corresponds to the purely adiabatic elastic deformation and the imaginary part accounts for dissipation. The tidal kinetic energy is dissipated into heat by means of anelastic friction, which is modeled here by the imaginary part of the complex shear modulus. This dissipation is responsible for the imaginary part of the disturbing function, which is implemented in the dynamical evolution equations, from which we derive the characteristic evolution times. Conclusions. The rate at which the system evolves depends on the physical properties of the tidal dissipation, and specifically on (1) how the shear modulus varies with tidal frequency, (2) the radius, and (3) the rheological properties of the solid core. The quantification of the tidal dissipation in the solid core of giant planets reveals a possible high dissipation that may compete with dissipation in fluid layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary scenarios for the major satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto-Charon are discussed. In the Jovian system the challenge is to understand how the present Laplace resonance of Io, Europa, and Ganymede was established and to determine whether the heat being radiated by Io is in balance with the present tidal dissipation in the moon. In the Saturnian system, Enceladus and Titan are the centers of attention. Tidal heating is the likely source of activity at the south pole of Enceladus, although the details of how the heating occurs are not understood. An evolutionary scenario based on accretion and internal differentiation is presented for Titan, whose present substantial orbital eccentricity is not associated with any dynamical resonance. The source and maintenance of methane in Titan's present atmosphere remain uncertain. Though most attention on the Saturnian moons focuses on Titan and Enceladus, the mid-size satellites Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys, and the irregular satellite Phoebe also draw our interest. An evolutionary scenario for Iapetus is presented in which spin down from an early rapidly rotating state is called upon to explain the satellite's present oblate shape. The prominent equatorial ridge on Iapetus is unexplained by the spin down scenario. A buckling instability provides another possible explanation for the oblateness and equatorial ridge of Iapetus. Rhea is the only medium-size Saturnian satellite for which there are gravity data at present. The interpretation of these data are uncertain, however, since it is not known if Rhea is in hydrostatic equilibrium. Pluto and Charon are representative of the icy dwarf planets of the Kuiper belt. Did they differentiate as they evolved, and do either of them have a subsurface liquid water ocean? New Horizons might provide some answers when it arrives at these bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]