Mission Statement

“The Proposal for International Spacecraft Cooperation for Education and Science (PISCES) is a study of a scientific mission to Mars, using small spacecraft working together in a network and deployed from a mothership satellite, encouraging international cooperation within a competition framework.”

Student Preface to PISCES

The students of the International Space University’s sixth Master of Space Studies class have come from the four corners of globe. Some of them have come to further their careers in the space field, some have come to change careers and enter the space industry, and some have come with stars in their eyes… or, in this case, Mars in their sights.

This last year has been spent immersed in learning about all aspects of the space industry. The project described in this report is the built upon our studies and the creativity and ambition of the class. The varied interests of the team members produced a number of interesting and creative ideas and innovations.

This project has been fascinating, and we have become a family through the many hours we have spent developing it.

PISCES provides for a forward-looking vision that will contribute to the eventual goal of mankind walking on Mars. It will help the scientific community to further understand the Martian environment. At the same time, it aims to involve as many space players as possible, including those entities that usually do not have the resources to carry out full-scale space science missions on their own. Following on this, we have looked into the financial, business and legal aspects of our mission.

We hope that our ideas will inspire and will allow mankind to move forward in our understanding of our solar system. We have enjoyed our time here at ISU and are proud to be able to offer you this report as the culmination of our efforts and our vision of the near future.

The sixth Master of Space Studies Class
Strasbourg, July 2001

 

Downloads