They will be the first spacecraft ever to penetrate the surface of another planet. They are riding to Mars aboard another spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander. On impact, each shell will shatter, and its grapefruit-sized probe will punch through the soil and separate into two parts. Several spacecraft around a planet could give scientists valuable information about different locations on a planet, as well as provide data that a single spacecraft could not. A network of meteorological stations on a planet could help scientists understand its atmosphere.
Standard spacecraft are too large, and therefore too costly, to launch in large numbers.
In contrast, dozens of miniaturized spacecraft could be launched at an affordable cost. Thus, the Deep Space 2 probes could pave the way to make networks of scientific stations on other planets a reality. The microprobes are also revolutionary in the way they will plunge into Mars. Typical spacecraft use a parachute and rockets, as well as an aeroshell, to slow their descent through an atmosphere and land safely. The Deep Space 2 probes are the first spacecraft to use only an aeroshell.