An affordable mission design for emplacement of a global network on Mars

Concept studies for the Pascal Mars Scout mission defined an economical approach for establishing a global network of small science stations on the surface of Mars. The carrier spacecraft deploys a total of 18 probes during a 10-day deployment phase, beginning 25 days prior to encounter. The spacecraft performs small maneuvers to disperse probes and adjust the time-of-arrival t achieve a global coverage. A self-orienting aeroshell protects each science station during atmospheric entry, with a disk gap band parachute providing terminal deceleration and a lightweight single-cell airbag providing landing shock attenuation. Viability of the approach was demonstrated through high-fidelity trajectory and aerothermal analyses. This mission implementation reduced mass, cost, and risk compared to the alternative examined during the concept study. It also offers great flexibility in landing site selection and provides capability to recover from anomalies during the deployment sequence, enhancing the probability of mission success.