Everything is ready at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch on Monday of the first mission of Exomars , a space program that Europe wants to prove is able to land on Mars.
Set if there ever was life on the red planet is a major scientific unknowns, according to the European Space Agency ( ESA ), which has developed Exomars to delve into this issue and pave the way for future missions
Exomars includes two missions. the first is a satellite to study trace gases (called TGO ) and a demonstrator module entry, descent and landing (called Schiaparelli), while the second incorporates a exploration vehicle (2018).
at the headquarters of the ESA in Villanueva de la Cañada (central Spain) presented today the first of the missions , which will be launched from Baikonur on March 14 at 09:31 hours GMT .
the main objectives of this mission are find evidence methane and other trace gases in the atmosphere that could imply the existence of biological or geological processes active, and test key technologies, in preparation for the contribution of the ESA on future missions to the red planet.
the satellite TGO and Schiaparelli module travel together will be launched on a Proton rocket . to Mars
the cruise phase is expected to be seven months, so it will reach Mars in October, three days after reaching the atmosphere red planet, Schiaparelli will be ejected from the satellite.
at that time, the module will move to the martian surface, entering the Martian atmosphere at 21,000 mph and decelerating with the help of aerobraking and parachute .
Your goal is to successfully complete the entry, descent and landing, one of the main challenges to explore Mars.
However, according to Silvia Bayón, systems engineer Exomars, for a few days the module will survive and may send scientific data using spare capacity power from its battery (you will send to Earth via satellites NASA ).
The satellite TGO begin its scientific mission in 2017 and will have an initial life of five years (will be set in a circular orbit about 400 kilometers above sea level).
the aim is to try to better understand the origin of methane make the most accurate measurements to date and other gases in the Martian atmosphere in small concentrations but that could reveal activity of biological processes or geological.
astronaut ESA Pedro Duque is a very important project that attracts the attention of all astronauts or to demonstrate that Europe it is a valid partner for future exploration missions to Mars, and when will there spaceflight, said by videoconference.
“Exomars with an investment of 1,300 million euros (1,433 million dollars) show that Europeans are able to land on Mars, carrying loads and do analysis, “summarized the director of science at the ESA , Alvaro Gimenez, who called the first truly European mission to Mars as “unique and wonderful”
Source: EFE
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