Mars One Issues RFP for Experiment Space on 2018 Lander

Mars One, the Dutch non-profit corporation which hopes to send colonists on a one-way journey to the Red Planet as soon as 2025 has issued a Request for Proposal for a payloads on its planned 2018 Mars lander.

The lander would most likely be built by Lockheed Martin, and is based on the proven design the aerospace giant supplied to NASA for the 2007 Phoenix Lander mission. Mars One currently has a study contract with Lockheed Martin for the mission.

As conceived, the lander will have space for up to seven payload experiments, with four being reserved by Mars One for demonstration of technologies directly applicable to its long term goal.

1. Soil acquisition to collect soil for water production

2. Water extraction experiment to be taken from the collected soil sample.

3. A deployable thin-film solar mat similar to that which the colonists would use on a much larger scale.

4.  Camera system for live feeds from Mars.

In addition to the lander, the 2018 mission concept calls for a small relay satellite built by Surrey Satellite to placed into Mars orbit for relaying signals to and from Earth.

In addition to the four dedicated payload spots (one of which does double duty as the lander’s power supply, the platform would have room for up to three more experiments. One is being reserved for a University challenge contest, leaving two open spots for which Mars One is now soliciting proposals to be made available to the highest bidder.

The complete RFP is here.

The Proposal Information Page is here.