MOSAIC: Mars Orbital Survey and Imaging Cartographer

What is it about?

The Mars Orbital Survey and Imaging Cartographer (MOSAIC) mission was created to answer the question "what untapped resources does Mars hold and how viable is the planet for future human settlement?". Following the AIAA’s 2025 Request for Proposal (RFP) for a mission to map and learn more about Mars’ environment and landscape, MOSAIC was formulated to efficiently map the surface of Mars and determine future human outposts to enable scientific exploration and a human presence on Mars. The MOSAIC Team has broken the mission into two stages: first, the Orbiter for Planetary Understanding and Sensing (OPUS) shall orbit Mars at an inclination allowing for mapping of at least 75% of the Martian surface to determine future landing sites, and second, the probes, Terrestrial Investigation of Landscape Erosion and Space weather (TILES), shall be deployed at 2 landing sites that meet mission requirements for environmental data gathering.

Featured Image

Photo by Planet Volumes on Unsplash

Photo by Planet Volumes on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Mars is known to be a planet of scientific interest and untapped potential, with resources and landscapes not yet understood enough to ensure human success on the planet. With relevant technology improving every day, the race to identify human landing sites on Mars has only intensified. However, in order to safely send crewed missions to the Red Planet, we must know more about where these crews may land, specifically by mapping and studying the environment of potential landing sites. Given the need for creative solutions, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has asked undergraduate students to design a Mars mission that will map 75% of the Martian surface while also conducting a specific environmental study of potential landing sites.