STAGE 01 / 10 · ORBITAL APPROACH
MARS APPROACH // TARGET: THARSIS CAVE CANDIDATES
PROJECT MAV-A1 // MARTIAN SUBTERRANEAN VANGUARD
Cosmic radiation (≈0.67 mSv a day at the surface, measured by Curiosity's RAD) and micrometeorites make the Martian surface a hard place to stay for long. Beneath the basaltic crust there may be lava tubes: natural shelters no one has ever looked inside.
STAGE 01 / 10 · ORBITAL APPROACH
MOLA ELEVATION // MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR
TARGETING THE THARSIS RISE
Laser altimetry reveals the giant volcanoes of Tharsis. Chains of collapse pits on their flanks suggest lava tubes below, possibly large enough to shelter a future base.
DATA: NASA/JPL · PIA02820
STAGE 02 / 10 · ENTRY & LANDING
ENTRY INTERFACE // ATMOS_DENSITY: 0.020 KG/M³
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY
Sealed in its aeroshell, the lander plunges into an atmosphere about 1% as dense as Earth's; Olympus Mons slides past on the approach to Arsia Mons.
STAGE 02 / 10 · ENTRY & LANDING
ATMOS_DENSITY: 0.020 KG/M³ // LANDER LOCK CONFIRMED
SURFACE DEPLOYMENT SEQUENCE
The lander sets down at the edge of a volcanic skylight with MAV-A1 sealed inside its dust-proof hangar. It becomes the base station: power, radio relay and shelter.
STAGE 03 / 10 · MAV-A1 LAUNCH
HANGAR DOORS OPEN // PAD LIFT ↑ // ROTORS SPIN-UP
OUT OF THE HANGAR
Two clamshell doors swing open on their actuators, the pad lift raises MAV-A1 to the rim of the hangar, and the six rotors spin up for lift-off.
STAGE 03 / 10 · MAV-A1 LAUNCH
PROPULSION: 6 MOTORS × 6-BLADE ROTORS // HIGH-SOLIDITY THIN-AIR DESIGN
SIX-ROTOR AERODYNAMIC ARCHITECTURE
Engineered for Mars's 1% atmospheric density, MAV-A1 drives six high-solidity, six-blade rotors on ultra-lightweight composite arms—generating stable lift where thin CO₂ air and a low speed of sound cap rotor tip speed.
- 13D LiDAR
- 26-blade rotor ×6
- 3Stereo camera
- 4Node dispenser
- 5Angled gear
STAGE 03 / 10 · MAV-A1 LAUNCH
NAV: PIT RIM // LiDAR ONLINE
EN ROUTE TO THE SKYLIGHT
MAV-A1 rose out of the hangar already facing the pit. It tilts forward and covers the short hop to the rim at low altitude, scanning the ground as it goes.
STAGE 04 / 10 · SKYLIGHT DESCENT
HiRISE PSP_003647_1745 // TARGET LOCK
TARGET ACQUIRED
Over the pit, MAV-A1 matches its downward view to the HiRISE image of this exact hole: 150 × 157 m across and at least 178 m deep, its floor never seen from orbit. Does it open into a cave? That is what MAV-A1 is built to find out.
STAGE 04 / 10 · SKYLIGHT DESCENT
BELOW THE RIM // SUNLIGHT & ORBITER LINK LOST
SUBTERRANEAN PIT INGRESS
From the sunlit rim into darkness. Below the rim no orbiter can hear the drone, so it flies fully autonomously, sidestepping blocks of collapsed roof jammed in the shaft.
STAGE 05 / 10 · LiDAR-SLAM MAPPING
OCTOMAP ACTIVE
REAL-TIME 3D LiDAR-SLAM MAPPING
Here the shaft is modelled opening into a lava tube. Sweeping it with low-power solid-state laser pulses, MAV-A1 builds centimetre-level 3D OctoMaps in total darkness.
STAGE 06 / 10 · AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION
NEURAL PATHFINDING // ZERO-HUMAN-INTERVENTION
VANGUARD-AI LEVEL-4 AUTONOMY
Powered by onboard VANGUARD-AI spatial intelligence, the hexacopter evaluates subterranean geometry in milliseconds—autonomously negotiating narrow choke points and rockfall hazards.
STAGE 06 / 10 · AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION
MOTOR 3 FAULT // RE-TRIM ACTIVE
ROTOR-OUT TOLERANCE
Six rotors keep the vehicle controllable with one motor out. VANGUARD-AI re-trims the remaining five and keeps flying.
FAULT TOLERANCE CITED FOR NASA'S MARS SCIENCE HELICOPTER CONCEPT (IEEE SPECTRUM)
STAGE 07 / 10 · BREADCRUMB NETWORK
[WARNING] SURFACE LOS LOST · BASALT ATTENUATION DETECTED
BREADCRUMB RELAY NETWORK
Deep inside Martian lava tubes, solid basalt blocks all orbital radio links. MAV-A1 builds its own subterranean lifeline.
STAGE 07 / 10 · BREADCRUMB NETWORK
RSSI THRESHOLD REACHED // DEPLOYING RELAY NODE_04
SELF-HEALING MULTI-HOP MESH
At calculated signal-decay points, the hexacopter drops micro-transceiver nodes, forming an unbroken underground data bridge back to the lander.
STAGE 07 / 10 · BREADCRUMB NETWORK
VANGUARD-AI LINK RECOVERY ACTIVE // OCTOMAP VECTOR LOCKED
ZERO-LOSS SIGNAL RECOVERY
If deep-cave interference severs the link, VANGUARD-AI fuses live 3D LiDAR-SLAM maps with breadcrumb coordinates to autonomously backtrack until telemetry is restored.
STAGE 08 / 10 · HABITAT ANALYSIS
CEILING INTEGRITY: STABLE // RADIATION SHIELDING: 99.4% SIM
HABITAT SITE QUALIFICATION
By analyzing structural arch stability and subterranean volatiles, MAV-A1 identifies secure, radiation-shielded zones capable of housing future human research outposts.
STAGE 08 / 10 · HABITAT ANALYSIS
CONCEPT // FUTURE OUTPOST · DRAWN AT REAL SCALE
A HOME UNDER THE BASALT
Where the map shows a stable roof, a flat floor and possibly ice nearby, a future crew could inflate their habitats, shielded by metres of rock from radiation and micrometeorites.
STAGE 09 / 10 · RETURN & RECHARGE
VANGUARD-AI // RETURN VECTOR LOCKED
AUTONOMOUS RETURN
Following its own OctoMap and the breadcrumb chain, MAV-A1 turns back once, flies to the skylight and climbs into the evening light.
STAGE 09 / 10 · RETURN & RECHARGE
DUST OPACITY RISING // RETURN TO HANGAR
HOME BEFORE THE DUST
A dust storm is thickening the air (optical depth τ rising): less sunlight for the lander's arrays, more grit on everything. In 2018 a planet-wide storm (τ ≈ 10.8) silenced the Opportunity rover for good. MAV-A1 lands on the raised pad, the lift lowers it into the hangar and the doors seal; it charges through an induction coil, with no exposed contacts.
STAGE 10 / 10 · MISSION COMPLETE
ALL MISSION OBJECTIVES COMPLETE
MISSION SUCCESSFUL
MAV-A1 is sealed in its hangar, recharging. Above the blue Martian sunset, the bright point is Earth; the lava-tube map and a qualified habitat site are on their way there.
262 MLAVA TUBE MAPPED SIM
1.24 MLiDAR POINTS SIM
4RELAY NODES DEPLOYED
1HABITAT ZONE QUALIFIED
100%BATTERY · DOCKED
MROMAP UPLINK RELAY
EPILOGUE
CONCEPT // A FUTURE NIGHT ON ARSIA MONS
A LIGHT UNDER ARSIA MONS
One day, the map MAV-A1 made could guide the first crew down this skylight, to live under the basalt, out of reach of the radiation above.