It's a joint project between Russia and Finland. Currently they're making a mockup of what is supposed to be "A Small Meteo Station", assembled and built by Lavochkin Bureaw ( http://www.laspace.ru/ ).
MetNet will conduct direct measurments of the Martian atmosphere during descend ( like Mars 6 ) and after landing will take some photos, measure the temperature of the surface, survey Mars volatiles and etc. The primary mission is supposed to end one Martian year after touchdown.

Entry, descend and landing:
http://www.laspace.ru/images/metnet009.jpg

It seems that there's no such thing as a parachute. The Russians describe the big pneumatic cone as : "Aerodynamic machine".... and this aerodynamic machine will be inflated after entry to slow down the spacecraft.

For more on MetNet

http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/granada2006...Granada2006.pdf
http://www.ava.fmi.fi/met-net/IAC_2003_paper.pdf

I hope they test these things on a wide variety of terrestrial terrains with varying rock abundances... I've always been (perhaps unfairly) unsure of the penetrator concept.

Have found more on METNET here:

http://www.ava.fmi.fi/metnet-portal/

http://katja.kumpula.helsinki.fi/dspace/bi.../3/2007nro3.pdf

I like this. Simple, innovative, and low cost (I hope). My concern is whether it will receive the testing needed (remember the mini-probes on the '98 mission?). Having a demonstration mission seems prudent.

Looks as though Jim Tillman (who I personally remember from the Viking mission) has been working on MetNet, as is mentioned here:

http://mit-club.org/Lists/Events/DispForm.aspx?ID=86

The current plan is to do drop tests this spring or summer, and if it works out, it is likely that two MetNet landers will be included on Phobos Grunt in a mission called the MetNet precursor mission. If they can't be ready on time, it is likely that the MetNet Precursor mission with two or three probes will fly to Mars in 2011. While the actual MetNet mission is planned to carry 16 landers, it is clear that the MetNet Precursor mission will fly ahead to make sure that they actually work before the "Big One." The exciting thing from the website as well as personal contacts is that some of the MetNet landers have actually been built, and the mission is the product of an deal concerning Soviet debt made years ago, so there is an international relations side to it. The exciting thing about Metnet is that even if 3/4th of the landers fail, it would still be a fascinating mission and be a great replacement for the cancelled MESUR (for which Pathfinder was to pathfind) and Netlander. From personal contacts, barring failure in the upcoming drop tests, the chances of one or two MetNet landers (two being more likely) flying on Phobos Grunt is high.

I hope that the radio relay is being set up so that Odyssey and MRO can act as relays, just in case Phobos-Grunt fails. I see the Russian mission as being riskier than the U.S. and European missions currently in orbit or planned, because given the fact that it will be deploying a Phobos lander, a Chinese orbiter, possibly up to two MetNet landers, and maneuvering its orbit to place the lander on Phobos, its mission from a flight standpoint is far more complex.

IIRC criticism of Mars 96 was because the mission was too complex. If we have landers on Phobos-Grunt I'll be happy, of course, but it adds some risk.

Zvezdichko, that is true, but remember that Mars 96 was a launch failure. The upper stage of the rocket didn't fire it out earth orbit, and thanks to not having tracking ships like they had during the Soviet era, they didn't know about it until it was too late. After an orbit or two, it crashed back to earth. I am not saying the growing complexity of Phobos-Grunt isn't an issue, but it is important to remember that it isn't what did Mars '96 in.

Zvezdichko and tedstryk are both right. We'll never know how Mars 96 would have performed because of its launch failure, but before launch there was a fair amount of concern among scientists and engineers worldwide that there would be one or more serious operational failures aboard the spacecraft because of insufficient testing. That's my fear with Phobos-Grunt/MetNet. As the mission has gotten more complex with add-ons, has the amount of testing kept up to prevent the growing number of failure scenarios? Certainly there's been enough time in the long development history of the project, the question is has the budget and manpower been there to thoroughly test everything?

Thanks to Paolo, we have this link:

http://www.iki.rssi.ru/annual/2008/R32_OKR_NIR-08.htm

EDIT: Actually, I was slightly mistaken about MetNet. They indeed won't be delivered to the launch pad in 2009, but if there is a decision to postpone the launch of F-G to 2011, MetNet should be ready.

So... yes. If there's a postponement of F-G launch until 2011 - MetNet will fly. But launch of MetNet won't be possible in 2009 due to unsufficient funding.


As a result - MetNet launch is delayed at least 2 years!

That is odd that the information came from Finland. My understanding was that the Russians were funding MetNet as part of a 1990s deal regarding Soviet debt. Perhaps that just covers getting the MetNet landers to Mars.

MetNet home page seems to have been updated. There are now new high resolution photos and a video rendering of EDL.
http://europlanet.fmi.fi/metnet/index.php?id=51

I have been told by people involved with the project that it will now fly on Phobos-Grunt. It had been booted because it wasn't ready on time for the 2009 launch, so it appears that the delay to 2011 has been a lifesaver.

Good news! Just wondering what they will do with the mass increase

No MetNet lander on Phobos Grunt in 2011 according to the following article:

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/phobos_grunt_2010.html

Tolis.

MetNet may fly on a 2015-2016 Chinese orbiter
http://finca.utu.fi/FinCOSPAR11/talks/Siili_FinCOSPAR11.pdf

In the light of the latest news over InSight's possible landing site, I thought I'd bump this thread to find out if anyone's heard anything new about MetNet - I seem to recall a piggyback with InSight being mooted at one point, but that possibility appears to have gone by the wayside. Although MetNet's Twitter account seems fairly active, I can't seem to find any updates on the precursor mission itself more recent than 2013.

I'm hoping a reduction in launch costs over the next few years will finally make this (and other occasionally mooted missions from across the world) cheap enough to fly.

You're in luck! (sort of....)

The European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2015, to be held in Vienna, Austria, on 12–17 April 2015, now has abstracts online here:


http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/egu...essionprogramme

and among them is this:


http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU...U2015-13336.pdf


Bottom line, though, they are still negotiating for a ride to Mars.

Phil