A mission to Mars including two Small Stations, two Penetrators and an Orbiter was launched at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 16 November 1996. This was called the Mars-96 mission. The Small Stations were expected to land in September 1997 (Ls approximately 178 degrees), nominally to Amazonis-Arcadia region on locations (33 N, 169.4 W) and (37.6 N, 161.9 W). The fourth stage of the Mars-96 launcher malfunctioned and hence the mission was lost. However, the state of the art concept of the Small Station can be applied to future Martian lander missions. Also, from the manufacturing and performance point of view, the Mars-96 Small Station could be built as such at low cost, and be fairly easily accommodated on almost any forthcoming Martian mission. This is primarily due to the very simple interface between the Small Station and the spacecraft. The Small Station is a sophisticated piece of equipment. With the total available power of approximately 400 mW the Station successfully supports an ambitious scientific program. The Station accommodates a panoramic camera, an alpha-proton-x-ray spectrometer, a seismometer, a magnetometer, an oxidant instrument, equipment for meteorological observations, and sensors for atmospheric measurement during the descent phase, including images taken by a descent phase camera. The total mass of the Small Station with payload on the Martian surface, including the airbags, is only 32 kg. Lander observations on the surface of Mars combined with data from Orbiter instruments will shed light on the contemporary Mars and its evolution. As in the Mars-96 mission, specific science goals could be exploration of the interior and surface of Mars, investigation of the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere, the role of water and other materials containing volatiles and in situ studies of the atmospheric boundary layer processes. To achieve the scientific goals of the mission the lander should carry a versatile set of instruments. The Small Station accommodates devices for atmospheric measurements, geophysical and geochemical studies of the Martian surface and interior, and cameras for descent phase and panoramic views. These instruments would be able to contribute remarkably to the process of solving some of the scientific puzzles of Mars.

The scientific objectives of a meterological experiment on the Martian surface are defined, and the meteorological equipment of the landing elements of the Mars-96 mission are described with emphasis on the applicability for re-use in forthcoming Mars missions. The general strategy for atmospheric surface observations is discussed. Meteorological surface observations are of utmost value in studying the Martian atmosphere. The climatological cycles and atmospheric circulations, as well as the boundary layer phenomena can be understood thoroughly only, if the contribution of in situ surface measurements are amalgamated with the remote observations. The Mars-96 mission had an ambitious goal of deploying four versatile payloads at four Northern hemispheric sites. The observations of pressure, temperature, wind, atmospheric optical thickness and humidity, as well as pressure and temperature measurements during the atmospheric descent were included in the meteorology experiment. Even though the Mars-96 mission was unsuccessful, the objectives and implementation of the meteorology experiment are applicable to any forthcoming landing mission to Mars. This applies both to a mission having a number of observation sites spread all over the surface of Mars, and to a single lander or rover. The main operational objective of this meteorological experiment is to provide a regular time series of the meteorological parameters with accelerated measurement campaigns during dawn and dusk. Such a data set would substantially improve our understanding of the atmospheric structure, dynamics, climatological cycles, and the atmosphere-surface interactions. The implementation of the meteorology instrument features advanced sensor technology and flexible system design. The application on the Mars-96 landing elements was, however, severely constrained by the limited power supply. The usefulness of the system can be substantially enhanced by modest additional resources and with few or no design modifications.