Abstract
Abstract The Martian climate system has been revealed to rival the complexity of Earth’s. Over the last 20 yr, a fragmented and incomplete picture has emerged of its structure and variability; we remain largely ignorant of many of the physical processes driving matter and energy flow between and within Mars’ diverse climate domains. Mars Orbiters for Surface, Atmosphere, and Ionosphere Connections (MOSAIC) is a constellation of ten platforms focused on understanding these climate connections, with orbits and instruments tailored to observe the Martian climate system from three complementary perspectives. First, low-circular near-polar Sun-synchronous orbits (a large mothership and three smallsats spaced in local time) enable vertical profiling of wind, aerosols, water, and temperature, as well as mapping of surface and subsurface ice. Second, elliptical orbits sampling all of Mars’ plasma regions enable multipoint measurements necessary to understand mass/energy transport and ion-driven escape, also enabling, with the polar orbiters, dense radio occultation coverage. Last, longitudinally spaced areostationary orbits enable synoptic views of the lower atmosphere necessary to understand global and mesoscale dynamics, global views of the hydrogen and oxygen exospheres, and upstream measurements of space weather conditions. MOSAIC will characterize climate system variability diurnally and seasonally, on meso-, regional, and global scales, targeting the shallow subsurface all the way out to the solar wind, making many first-of-their-kind measurements. Importantly, these measurements will also prepare for human exploration and habitation of Mars by providing water resource prospecting, operational forecasting of dust and radiation hazards, and ionospheric communication/positioning disruptions.
Highlights
A Study Team (Study Lead: Steve Matousek) at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) worked closely with the Science Team to (a) define architectural “building blocks” with which to construct possible mission concepts, (b) explore the technical and scientific trade space encompassing the boundaries of such concepts, and (c) work with the rapid-iteration design groups known as Team-X and Team-Xc to formulate specific point designs that met the MOSAIC science requirements while achieving technical closure
The MOSAIC mission concept promises to revolutionize our understanding of the Mars climate system and of the physical processes that drive the connections within and between its major volatile reservoirs, from the shallow subsurface out to the solar wind
This improved understanding is motivated by scientific goals, and is a necessary step in preparing to keep explorers safe as we plan for a sustained human presence on Mars
Summary
This article is based in large part on the MOSAIC Planetary Mission Concept Study, funded by NASA headquarters to provide input to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023–2032. A Study Team (Study Lead: Steve Matousek) at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) worked closely with the Science Team to (a) define architectural “building blocks” with which to construct possible mission concepts, (b) explore the technical and scientific trade space encompassing the boundaries of such concepts, and (c) work with the rapid-iteration design groups known as Team-X and Team-Xc (for small satellites) to formulate specific point designs that met the MOSAIC science requirements while achieving technical closure. These designs were subject to cost and schedule analysis. Following this are appendices covering the following topics: science team structure and process, detailed descriptions of the measurement requirements and instruments needed to make the measurements, plus summaries of the instrument and measurement requirements, and the cover of the technical report submitted to NASA HQ
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