Orpheus: A Hopper Mission To Explore Volcanic Pits and Caves In Cereberus Fossae on Mars.

Summary: Orpheus is a Mars hopper mission concept to explore volcanic fissures and pit/cave vents in Cerberus Fossae that experienced recent eruptions and may still be active, to search for biosignatures and gain insights into Mars’ origin & evolution, and the history of its water.

Introduction: The search for signs of indigenous life on Mars is a top priority in astrobiology and solar system science. In this quest, the search for signs of extant life is particularly important, as only discovering extant life would enable the protein and genetic analyses needed to establish that the life found does not share the same origin as terrestrial life.

While the surface of Mars is now considered likely too hostile to harbor extant life, the Martian subsurface may offer environments with subdued extremes more suitable for life. Among these, pits and caves represent intriguing targets.

There are at present over 1000 pits, caves, and volcano-tectonic depressions inventoried on Mars. These are mostly clustered in two regions: the Tharsis and Elysium volcanic provinces.

In this study, we identify optimal fissures and pits/caves in the Cerberus Fossae area of Elysium that could be targeted by a robotic reconnaissance mission, and propose Orpheus, a hopper mission concept to explore them.

Orpheus: A Hopper Mission To Explore Volcanic Pits and Caves In Cereberus Fossae on Mars (Poster at LPSC 2026)