You are not logged in.
Pages: 1
it would be followed 2 yrs later for a 'pick-up-the-sample' mission, so it'll take a while before we get our hands on it...
Offline
Some info on the ExoMars orbiter and MSR project by ESA
http://www.corriere.fantascienza.com/notizie/4628
http://www.isst.cz/STUDENTI/GERSL%20OND … emars3.jpg
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/SEMOJ7RMD6E_0.html
http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/img/mars_exomars.jpg
http://www.liquifer.at/projects/1xg/mar … _rover.htm
http://www.sondasespaciales.com/modules … le&sid=493
ESA Rover -
Looks very like the Russian lunokhod-II and Spirit+Opportunity-Rover but with some different features
'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )
Offline
There was an older thread ( Mars Sample Return Mission by ESA - 2011 at the earliest ) for this but in any case could this also have been the reason for the Nasa MSR mission being put on hold or later cancelled?
[url=http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1125567147107900.xml&coll=2]NASA's Mars sample mission on hold
Scientists believe planet's soil, rocks vital to research [/url]
Could this be just another budgetary decision since it was going be more than 3 billion to accomplish the task or more?
Offline
With any sort of sample and return mission there is a question of what type of sample do we wish to obtain. This also ties into what are we looking for.
The rovers have done an excelent job of give us some key finds with respect to mineralogy and a sample return can only add to that info.
Now we can just scoup up the sample or we can grind it off a rock but to drill it would mean a much different type of lander.
The Mars Analog Deep Drill System
Honeybee Robotics' MARTE drill is a highly automated deep drill and core retrieval system. The 10-axis system is designed for subsurface sample recovery and hand-off from depths of up to 10 meters.
This drill has gotten some testing in the artic as I recall but the thread escapes me back during the summer of 2005.
NASA Field-Tests the First System Designed to Drill for Subsurface Martian Life
Mars is desert-like and much colder than Earth's Antarctica. Nearly all the time, the temperature on Mars is far below zero. Its surface is much too frigid, and the martian air is too thin for liquid water to occur. Life as we know it requires liquid water.
There are other possibilities for such drills other than searching for life though.
Of course with some more testing under the bit one can only hope that once it gets to mars that it will find resources that will make efforts to stay on mars more likely.
[url=http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/385435359.shtml]NASA readies drill for Mars
Researchers bring subsurface technology closer to application in outer space[/url]
Offline
Update with regards to UK signs up to Euro Mars mission ( ExoMars )
The UK is to play a key role in Europe's next mission to Mars.
The government is to invest 108m euros (£73.2m) to give Britain a major share in building the robotic probe
Offline
Alcatel Alenia Space starts the ExoMars mission design
contract, worth about 13 million Euros, calls for one year mission design work up to the preliminary design review including the definition of the main system elements of the mission.
The ExoMars program, commissioned by ESA for a budget of about 600 million Euros, is one of the most important exploration missions in the near future. Scheduled to be launched from Kourou in 2011, the ExoMars mission will enable exobiology studies.
Offline
Making the case for Ariane 6
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/500/1
European Launcher for Manned Mars Missions
http://www.marssociety.de/html/index...00000000000000
very heavy launch vehicle based on Ariane 5 elements to perform a European Manned Mars Mission
'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )
Offline
it would be followed 2 yrs later for a 'pick-up-the-sample' mission, so it'll take a while before we get our hands on it...
this could be a great mission
how is it progressing, did it get funding ?
Offline
ESA has taken a further step in preparing for participation in Mars Sample Return (MSR), the landmark mission to return samples from the Red Planet, with the announcement of the next phase of industrial activity. The Phase A2 activity will address many critical issues and identify key areas in which Europe can participate in this flagship of the Aurora Programme.
The MSR mission has been recognised by European and International scientists as one of the next major milestones in the exploration of the Red Planet, and would represent a quantum leap in the study of possible life there with scientists able to use the full range of Earth based facilities and laboratories. This mission also represents a critical step on the path to the ultimate goal of performing a human mission to Mars, since it involves the full sequence of landing, operating, launching from Mars and returning back to Earth. The technology developments required to enable a MSR mission are also to some extent common to future lunar exploration missions.
Offline
International group plans strategy for Mars sample return mission
19 December 2007
http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM9E92MDAF_index_0.html
ESA, NASA and an international team are developing plans and seeking recommendations to launch the first Mars mission to bring soil samples back to Earth. The ability to study soil from Mars here on Earth will contribute significantly to answering questions about the possibility of life on the Red Planet.
Returned samples also will increase understanding of the useful or harmful properties of Martian soil, which will support planning for the eventual human exploration of Mars.
A task force named the International Mars Architecture for Return of Samples, or IMARS, recently met in Washington to lay the foundation for an international collaboration to return samples from Mars. NASA hosted the meeting. IMARS meeting participants included representatives from more than half a dozen countries and ESA, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
....
Offline
Pages: 1
