Editing Pallas Deep-Core Survey (section)

=== Commissioning and Pre-Survey Planning (2094–2096 CE) ===

Formal commissioning of the survey was recorded in late 2094 CE, following the release of a prospecting feasibility report authored in part by Dr. Solvei Mäkinen, then affiliated with the [[Hygiea Medical Consortium]]'s geological research division. Mäkinen's analysis drew on spectroscopic data gathered by automated probes between 2079 and 2082 CE, identifying an anomalously high bulk density region in Pallas's northern hemisphere that she designated informally as the ''Pallene Anomaly.''

Survey Commander Priya Vasanthakumar was appointed mission director in early 2095 CE. Her first priority was resolving the engineering problem that had stymied previous deep-drilling proposals for low-gravity bodies: conventional borehole casing systems relied on gravitational load to maintain stability, and on Pallas's near-negligible surface gravity, standard rigs could not sustain the lateral and torsional stresses generated at depth. Chief Engineer Bram Oduya, recruited from the [[Outer Belt Salvage Cooperative]], spent fourteen months designing a tensioned-anchor framework in which borehole casings were stabilized by an array of surface-driven tension cables, effectively transferring load from gravity to mechanical anchoring. The system was tested at reduced scale on a smaller belt body in 2095 CE before full fabrication was authorized.

[[Medic-Technician Lian Holt]] joined the crew roster in mid-2095 CE as the mission's primary medical officer and human-factors specialist. Her pre-deployment review of existing micro-gravity health literature identified significant gaps in protocol for personnel exposed to extended surface operations at gravity levels below 0.005 g — a regime distinct from both orbital microgravity and the relatively well-studied Martian surface environment established during the [[First Sustained Mars Surface Missions]].