Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey
The Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) was a proposal by NASA's Langley Research Center to build a robotic, rocket-powered airplane that would fly one mile above the surface of Mars, in order to investigate the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface of the planet. The ARES team, headed by Dr. Joel S. Levine, sought to be selected and funded as a NASA Mars Scout Mission for a 2011 or 2013 launch window. ARES was chosen as one of four finalists in the program, out of 25 potential programs. However, the Phoenix mission was ultimately chosen instead.
Simulation of ARES aircraft flying over Mars | |
| Mission type | Mars atmospheric probe |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Website | mars |
| Mission duration | 1 hour on Mars |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Power | watts |
ARES would have traveled to Mars compactly folded into a protective aeroshell; upon entry in the thin atmosphere, the capsule would have deployed a parachute to decelerate, followed by ARES release at altitude.
As well as the aforementioned goals, the aircraft would also have investigated the atmosphere of Mars and its weak magnetic field.