Overview

For probe missions, 2004 was a bumper year, beginning with two successful Mars missions and concluding with the descent of Huygens to the surface of Titan. In August, an international community of scientists, engineers, mission designers, instrument/sensor designers, program and agency leaders gathered in California to discuss planetary probe science and technology, both for missions in progress, such as Genesis and Huygens, and for future missions, including Stardust, Phoenix, MSL, and proposed missions to the Gas Giants and Venus. This international workshop grew out of the need to create a forum for communication between the leaders in science and enablers of technology, to allow the leadership to chart and market missions of the future.