ExoMars

ExoMars Mission

OBJECTIVE:

To further characterise the biological environment on Mars in preparation for robotic missions and then human exploration. Data from the mission will also provide invaluable input for broader studies of exobiology – the search for life on other planets.

Exomars 2016

According to plans formulated by December 2009, a NASA Atlas V 421 rocket was to launch the European Trace Gas Orbiter and the Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module, EDM, in January 2016, to arrive on Mars in nine months with October 2016.

The orbiter would release the lander during its approach to Mars, after which EDM would use a parachute followed by a rocket-powered landing with the help of liquid-propellant engines.

According to the original plans, the 700-kilogram ESA lander was designed to survive on the surface of the Red Planet for around eight sols (Martian days) only on battery power and doing limited science. Later, its lifespan had to be reduced to four sols. However, the primary purpose of the lander was the technical validation of a future European system to conduct a controlled soft landing on Mars. The European lander was proposed to replace an American spacecraft originally considered for this mission.

Exomars 2018

As of 2009, in April 2018, NASA’s Atlas rocket would launch the European Space Agency’s long-delayed ExoMars rover and a smaller NASA rover (Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher, MAX-C) to look for signs of life on Mars. The rovers were scheduled to land in the same location on the Red Planet in January 2019. Thanks to a highly intelligent navigation system, the mobile robots would travel for several miles across the Martian surface.

The European spacecraft would use ground-penetrating radar to locate subsurface features associated with the past presence of water. It would then drill as deep as two meters below the surface to extract samples for in-situ analysis

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

In order to be successful ExoMars will require advanced technology in the following areas:

• Rover systems
• Landing systems
• An inflatable braking device
• Power supply
• Autonomy and navigation

SCHEDULE

ExoMars 2016