ExoMars - Europe and Russia are going to Mars

Tomorrow, on Monday March 14th, a powerful Russian "Proton" rocket will launch a new mission to Mars.

ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is a large Mars mission to search for biosignatures of Martian life, past or present. It is an astrobiology mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).

The mission consists of two components: the orbiter which will map the sources of methane on Mars and other gases (and in doing so, help select the landing site for the ExoMars rover to be launched in 2018), and a stationary lander which will measure the environment.

The Proton rocket has never been used to launch a mission to Mars before, so it's gonna be a first, as well as (hopefully) being Europe’s first probe to successfully land and operate on Mars.

The mission’s interplanetary journey will take more than seven months, with arrival at Mars pegged for 19 October.



astronomynow.com...

Here's a video that shows the spacecraft (it's huge!) as well as an animation of how the mission will progress:


www.youtube.com...

I really really hope that Proton rocket doesn't blow up. >_>

a reply to: wildespace

It's really nice to see more exploration of Mars. We are a pretty smart species, we really should start exploring more instead of blowing each other up!

a reply to: wildespace

That's a fine looking rocket , fingers firmly crossed for successful launch and safe journey to Mars tomorrow.
2018 should be a good year for exploration with both ExoMars rover and James Webb Space Telescope due for launch , if I could make one request for the ExoMars rover it would be put a microphone on it , seen many pictures from Mars but now I really want to hear it , it won't be earth shattering but it would be interesting.

a reply to: wildespace

I give a huge amount of credit to the cosmonauts who are willing to sit on top of that powder keg. You must have nerves of steel to put yourself in possible danger at launch and during the journey to and from Mars.

LOL! Should have checked the Russian success rate for Mars Missions first.

Marsnik 1 (USSR) launched Oct. 10, 1960, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft did not reach Earth orbit.
Marsnik 2 (USSR) launched Oct. 14, 1960, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft did not reach Earth orbit.
Sputnik 22 (USSR) launched Oct. 24, 1962, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft achieved Earth orbit only.
Mars 1 (USSR) launched Nov. 1, 1962, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft's radio failed at 65.9 million miles (106 million kilometers).
Sputnik 24 (USSR) launched Nov. 4, 1962, on an intended Mars flyby. The spacecraft achieved Earth orbit only.

Several more attempts were made between 1969 and 1971. Most failed to reach their target:

Mars 1969A (USSR) launched March 27, 1969. The Mars orbiter did not reach Earth orbit.
Mars 1969B (USSR) launched April 2, 1969. The Mars orbiter failed during launch.
Komos 419 (USSR) launched May 10, 1971. The Mars orbiter achieved Earth orbit only

The Soviet Union also made attempts to reach one of the moons of Mars, Phobos, in the 1980s. Both missions failed.

Phobos 1 launched July 7, 1988. The Mars orbiter and Phobos lander were lost in August 1988 en route to Mars.
Phobos 2 launched July 12, 1988. The Mars orbiter and Phobos lander were lost in March 1989 near Phobos.

Source




ETA: Not to leave anyone out. But all that is up there are a lot of NASA crashed ships and a couple rovers.

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: wildespace

I give a huge amount of credit to the cosmonauts who are willing to sit on top of that powder keg. You must have nerves of steel to put yourself in possible danger at launch and during the journey to and from Mars.

Um, humans aren't going to Mars.

No cosmonaut is riding in the rocket.

It is a probe, just a satellite.

I wish them all the best; the Europeans have put a lot of hard work into the ExoMars missions, and the Russians could do with some positive news on the interplanetary spaceflight front. That said, there will be a lot of crossed fingers during this launch. The Proton rocket has been having some issues recently, largely related to quality control, and has been failing at least once a year since 2010. Good luck, ExoMars!

Thanks for posting. S+F

Its funny, I almost get the sensation that another space race is heating up! There been a lot of movement between all the big players concerning Mars.

Will Putin get to Mars first? Russia says ship could reach planet TWICE as quick as NASA

USA, the European Space Agency, China and Russia are currently embroiled in a new age space race to become the first to get to Mars.

As it stands, NASA says that it would take around three months to get humans to the planet with the technology it is developing but Russia’s potential super-fast spaceship could get there in half that time.

Vladimir Putin's space agency, RosCosmos, originally started the project in 2010 but it has now been taken on by nuclear body Rosatom.

The Mars Insight mission objectives are comparable to what the Schiaparelli is hoping to accomplish. After being delayed due to a vacuum leak, the project was pushed back another two years. Go ahead Russia, put your lander down first, that leak is the only reason it'll happen.

NASA Targets May 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Mission

“The science goals of InSight are compelling, and the NASA and CNES plans to overcome the technical challenges are sound," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The quest to understand the interior of Mars has been a longstanding goal of planetary scientists for decades. We’re excited to be back on the path for a launch, now in 2018.”

That baby drills 16 feet into the ground!

a reply to: spirit_horse

ETA: Not to leave anyone out. But all that is up there are a lot of NASA crashed ships and a couple rovers.

I would guess that there are plenty of other machines and people still there - along with GOD only knows what.....

a reply to: Sargeras

My bad.

Nice looking rocket. I've always loved the look of the Soyuz rocket. This looks beefier.

I'm happy about any Mars mission. Mars is our neighbour, we need to visit more often.

I would love to see a new Venus mission though. That ONE photo that exists of the surface from the Russian Venera craft blows my mind every time I see it. A picture of the inhospitable surface of Venus. I stared at it for hours as a child and it is partially responsible for me loving science so much.

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: Sargeras

My bad.

I agree with your sentiment though. It takes balls of steel sit on top of TWO of these

youtu.be...

Yes I know these are SRBs and not on the soyuz or proton but still..the shuttle crew sat above two of these. I have the utmost respect for astronauts.

Great news , ExoMars lifted off safely from Kazakhstan this morning.

Now we just gotta wait.

And we have a liftoff!


www.youtube.com...

You can keep updated about today's progress of the mission (including the confirmation of spacecraft separation, solar array deployment and first acquisition of signal later today) at www.esa.int...

Peeps at the Unmanned SpaceFlight Forum will be following and dissiminating the news closely: www.unmannedspaceflight.com...

Very cool. Lovely mach diamonds in the flame.

Thanks for posting.

Can I ask a question. Probably a silly one.

How is it arriving there so quickly? I thought it took over a year to get to mars. Unless they have a sh*t load of fuel to burn to slow down?

originally posted by: 3danimator2014
Can I ask a question. Probably a silly one.

How is it arriving there so quickly? I thought it took over a year to get to mars. Unless they have a sh*t load of fuel to burn to slow down?

If you consider the orbits of Mars and Earth around the Sun (and that the Earth goes around the Sun much faster than Mars does), there are times when Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun from Mars - and thus very very far away from the red planet, and there are times when Earth and Mars are both on the same side of the Sun - and thus much closer to each other.

This launch took advantage of such closeness.

originally posted by: wildespace

originally posted by: 3danimator2014
Can I ask a question. Probably a silly one.

How is it arriving there so quickly? I thought it took over a year to get to mars. Unless they have a sh*t load of fuel to burn to slow down?

If you consider the orbits of Mars and Earth around the Sun (and that the Earth goes around the Sun much faster than Mars does), there are times when Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun from Mars - and thus very very far away from the red planet, and there are times when Earth and Mars are both on the same side of the Sun - and thus much closer to each other.

This launch took advantage of such closeness.

Makes sense. I've just never heard of getting there that fast.

Cheers