I will have a technological development timeline by the time I post the full description all in one place.  I am pulling most of my ideas from futuretimeline.net which is a collaborative effort to predict developments.

Rethinking the NPC status of the Mothership crew.  I may allow everyone to run 2-3 characters each - one for each lander, plus the mothership.

Mission Commander
Senior Pilot
Chief IT Officer
Chief Engineer
Chief Medical Officer
Spaceflight Consultant (*only one available.  This is my main.  First ever in history.  Similar to a Spaceflight Participant which has no duties.  A consultant does have duties to offer technological mission specific advice.  It is bad press if he dies.  This would be tantamount to taking Albert Einstein for a close up look at a black hole to offer his professional advice.)

Military Specialist (4)  These are space trained veteran military soldiers.  They will be Marines cross-trained by all branches of service to operate in any environment. One of their primary functions is to secure the firewall structure (prevent a biohazard from returning to Earth).  They are absolutely elite and handpicked.  You will need a VERY good CS for one of these.  One will accompany each lander mission.  Two will remain aboard the mothership.

Lander Crews (2)
Sub Commander
Pilot
Flight Engineer
Communications (linguistics required)
Medical Officer
Mission Specialists
   Geology
   Xenozoologist
   Xenobotanist
   Xenomicrobiologist
   Xeno-Meteorologist

Educational Requirements:  Extremely competitive.  Even the crews of the space shuttles required a science or math degree for the Command personnel in addition to their piloting skills.  Any specialists will need PhD’s.  

My Main has multiple PhD’s, but is a senior citizen (61-62 years old I think here).  He pulled a lot of strings to get on the mission.  He is a civilian.  Feel free to give him a hard time for taking up 270 pounds of mass plus gear that could have been used for another mission specialist.