Mission design overview for the Phoenix Mars Scout mission

The Phoenix Mars Scout Lander - the first robotic explorer in NASA's "Scout Program" - is scheduled to launch in August 2007, and will land on the northern plains of Mars in May 2008, prior to the start of the northern, Martian summer. The Phoenix mission "follows the water" by landing in a region where NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has discovered evidence of ice-rich soil very near the Martian surface. For three months after landing, the fixed Lander will perform in-situ and remote sensing investigations that will characterize the chemistry of the materials at the local surface, sub-surface, and atmosphere, and will identify potential provenance of key indicator elements of significance to the biological potential of Mars, including potential organics and any accessible water ice. The Lander will employ a robotic arm to dig to the ice layer, and will analyze the acquired samples using a suite of deck-mounted, science instruments. The development of the baseline strategy to achieve the objectives of this mission involves the integration of a variety of elements into a coherent mission plan. These elements have been involved in developing plans for the launch phase, interplanetary trajectory and navigation, atmospheric entry, descent, and landing (EDL), landing site selection, and the surface mission. An overview of the integrated mission plan, from launch through surface operations, is described.