ExoMars - An ESA/NASA collaboration?

[Rick]

European ExoMars rover developments

The project to design and build a European rover to send to Mars has passed an important milestone.

Engineers have demonstrated a vented, or dead-beat, airbag technology that could be used to cushion the vehicle's landing on the Red Planet.

An effective entry, descent and landing system will be critical to the success of the ExoMars mission, as it is known.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6738585.stm

[Rick]

The European Space Agency (Esa) is pushing forward with its design for a rover mission to send to Mars in 2013.

Project teams have been authorised to investigate a concept that would launch a 205kg robot on a heavy-lift rocket.

The vehicle, expected to land in September 2014, would be equipped with a 16.5kg package of instruments to search for past or present life.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6745177.stm

[Rick]

The European Space Agency (ESA) has compiled a shortlist of places it would like to look for life (past or present) on Mars.

The agency says its ExoMars mission, planned for a 2013 launch, will touch down on some of the red planet's oldest rocks, as these might once have been in contact with Martian water. A region rich in clay minerals would be ideal, the agency said, since these so-called phyllosilicates contain water in their crystalline structure.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/16/life_on_mars_euro/

[Rick]

The European Space Agency (Esa) has drawn up its shortlist of the best places to look for life on Mars.

Esa will launch a mission called ExoMars in 2013 in which a robot rover will search the Martian surface for evidence of past or present life.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7093172.stm

[Rick]

Road tests of a vehicle with a difference are taking place at Aberystwyth University.

Scientists working on a new attempt to search for life on Mars are testing equipment on a scale model of a rover vehicle, which could roam the planet.

They have simulated the surface of Mars in a lab, as part of the European Space Agency-led ExoMars 2013 mission.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/7262729.stm

[Rick]

Has a wheel just come off Britain's participation in the biggest European space mission of the next decade?

Funding for UK-led experiments on the ExoMars rover and lander is to be cut by 25% in their key development phase.

...

These positions are now threatened because of a decision to rein back development money. The problem stems from the budget squeeze experienced by the funding agency which oversees UK astronomy and physics - the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

It has sought to claw back £80m of savings to balance its 2009-11 budget - and ExoMars lost out in a review process that was held to find the highest priority science endeavours.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7492497.stm

[Rick]

Engineers have unveiled the latest prototypes for a European rover that is due to land on Mars in 2015.

BBC News has had exclusive access to the test vehicles which are being put through their paces by space company UK Astrium at its HQ in Stevenage.

The British team on this European Space Agency (Esa) project has nicknamed the prototypes Bruno and Bradley.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7561093.stm

[Rick]

The European and US space agencies (Esa and Nasa) have taken a significant step towards teaming up to explore Mars.

They have announced a joint initiative for robotic exploration of the Red Planet following a two-day summit in Plymouth, UK, last month.

But this means European space ministers now face tough decisions over the future of Esa's ExoMars rover mission.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8130393.stm

[Whitters]

8 July 2009
On 29 and 30 June the ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood, met NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science, Ed Weiler, in Plymouth, UK, to establish a way for a progressive programme for exploration of the Red Planet. The outcome of the bilateral meeting was an agreement to create a Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI) that will provide a framework for the two agencies to define and implement their scientific, programmatic and technological goals at Mars.

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMH1J6CTWF_index_0.html

[Ian]

lets hope it doesn't go the usual way of UK-US collaboration.

We give them all our good stuff, they use it and call it their own. Supersonic aircraft anyone?

[Rick]

A quarry in the south of England has been the site of an "eye test" for Europe's planned rover mission ExoMars.

The quarry - chosen for its similarity to Martian terrain - saw cameras and image processing software tested on the ExoMars prototype rover Bridget.

The rover will be equipped with a raft of cameras and the aim is to integrate them and the data they will send back.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8271733.stm

[Rick]

The first joint U.S.-European mission to Mars now has a plan for its toolkit.

Scheduled for launch in 2016, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter will study the chemical composition of Mars' atmosphere with a suite of instruments specially suited to the task. These instruments are expected to  take measurements 1,000 times more sensitive than those by previous Mars orbiters.

"To fully explore Mars, we want to marshal all the talents we can on Earth," said European Space Agency scientist David Southwood.

More on Space.com

[Rick]

ExoMars 2016 Targets March Launch Window

problem recently discovered in two sensors in the propulsion system of the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module has prompted the recommendation to move the launch of the ExoMars 2016 mission, initially foreseen in January, to March, still within the launch window of early 2016.

ExoMars is a joint endeavour between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency. The recommendation was made in full coordination between the two agencies and will be finally endorsed by a joint steering board on 24 September.

The Schiaparelli module will prove key technologies to demonstrate Europe's capability to make a controlled landing on Mars.

The 600 kg Schiaparelli will ride to Mars on the Trace Gas Orbiter, which will subsequently enter orbit around the Red Planet to begin its five-year mission of studying atmospheric gases potentially linked to present-day biological or geological activity.

More from ESA

[Rick]

Landing Site Recommended for ExoMars 2018

Oxia Planum has been recommended as the primary candidate for the landing site of the ExoMars 2018 mission.

ExoMars 2018, comprising a rover and surface platform, is the second of two missions making up the ExoMars programme, a joint endeavour between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos. Launch is planned for May 2018, with touchdown on the Red Planet in January 2019.

Meanwhile, the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator module will be launched in March 2016, arriving at Mars around this time next year.

Schiaparelli will land in Meridiani Planum. The orbiter will study the atmosphere and act as a relay for the second mission.

More from ESA

[Rick]

Exomars Prepares to Leave Europe for Launch Site

The two ExoMars spacecraft of the 2016 mission are being prepared for shipping to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ahead of their launch in March.

A joint endeavour with Russia's Roscosmos space agency, ExoMars comprises two missions. The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli make up the 2016 mission, while the 2018 mission will combine a rover and a surface science platform. Both missions will be launched on Russian Proton rockets from Baikonur.

TGO and Schiaparelli are undergoing final preparations at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, where they were today on display for media to view for the last time before they leave Europe.

They will be shipped separately in the middle of next month, arriving at the cosmodrome on 21 and 23 December, respectively.

More from ESA