ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

DonPanic · 2005-04-12 03:10:13

ESA to collaborate with NASA in sending another Mars Rover with life searching
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/SEM1 … 0.html]aim

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SpaceNut · 2005-04-27 10:08:40

Europe’s ExoMars Rover: Steering A Course Toward Humans On Mars

Future hunts for past or present life on Mars, hauling back to Earth samples of martian rock and soil, as well as setting the stage for a human voyage to the red planet is taking on a decidedly European look.
European Space Agency (ESA) officials are taking steps to shift into high gear the building of the ExoMars robotic rover mission. The lander would be launched in 2011, likely onboard a Soyuz Fregat 2b booster from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
On arrival at Mars, ExoMars would be equipped to scout about for the leftover traces of long-gone life or still thriving biology on the far-away world. Furthermore, the ESA robot is to help identify potential peril for a future humans-to-Mars mission – now resident on NASA planning charts as the year 2030.

Great stuff hope they can get the funding.

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2006-01-18 08:08:51

some future missions

MRO - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA's MTO : seems to be cancelled
Phoenix lander
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1415
Mars Gravity Biosatellite ( not to Mars but a Mars simulation at NEO Earth orbit )
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3916
2011/2013 Scout-I and core science orbiter with telecommunications capability
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4221
ESA sample mission
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1469
Russian Phobos-Grunt
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1521
2016 Mid-rovers or Astrobiology Field Laboratory
Scout-2 in 2018
European Mars project Aurora
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1468
2020 Planetary Evolution and Meteorology Network
Mars Sample Return Orbiter with Telecom in 2022
2024 Mobile Mars Sample Return

EuroLauncher · 2006-02-08 14:35:00

this sounds like a good mission

EuroLauncher · 2006-04-26 10:35:51

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19555
Currently four orbiting explorers are scanning the surface of Mars in ever more detail, including Europe's own Mars Express, while on the Red Planet itself two NASA rovers are due to be joined in 2013 by ESA's ExoMars rover. The ExoMars mission will take Mars exploration and the search for life to a new level, with an advanced set of life detection instruments as well as the capability to drill into the Martian surface to search for signs of life, a first for Mars. These missions, while providing a wealth of data, are however somewhat limited in that they must take the laboratory to Mars, facing restrictions on power, mass and having to carry out scientific operations in a very harsh environment. The obvious question then arises; why not bring Mars to the laboratory? Hence, the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission.

Mars Express’s OMEGA uncovers possible sites for life
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM117OFGLE_index_0.html
20 April 2006
By mapping minerals on the surface of Mars using the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, scientists have discovered the three ages of Martian geological history – as reported in today’s issue of Science - and found valuable clues as to where life might have developed.

cIclops · 2006-09-16 08:29:45

August episode of Sky at Night features ExoMars - video achived here (15MB)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2006-09-18 15:45:08

Lauch in 2011 , does Europe have enough funding for a Mars program ?

cIclops · 2006-09-19 22:37:45

Lauch in 2011 , does Europe have enough funding for a Mars program ?

The mission has been approved and funded at about €600m ($760m). However that may be far too low given ESA's bureaucratic inefficient approach to development. The overhead of such large multinational projects increases costs about 30%. Yes it's worse than NASA! To save money they have already selected a Soyuz launcher that will take about two years to reach Mars. ExoMars is a complex ambitious project and it will be ESA's first rover. In comparison MSL, a similar capability rover with a long heritage of previous successful Mars rover missions, and with a fully integrated team of experienced engineers and managers, is currently budgeted at $1300m.

cIclops · 2006-10-28 11:18:07

One advantage of ESA's low profile public relations is that news of a 2 year slip in this flagship project totally escapes media attention, until now.

Pasteur Progress Letter 5

Concerning the launch date, an ESA project-independent review has concluded that only the 2013 launch option provides a robust development schedule, including sufficient contingency for achieving the necessary technology readiness level for critical items; such as airbags, supersonic parachutes, descent control and stability, Rover locomotion and navigation, and subsurface drill operation. Therefore, from now on the ExoMars industrial team will concentrate mainly on the 2013 mission.

Given the planned two year transit to Mars, this means a landing in 2015

cIclops · 2006-11-10 19:00:51

The mainstream media have finally caught up with NewMars

European Mars launch pushed back

Using a more expensive Ariane V means arrival in 2014. Note that the cost may increase to €800 ($1B) and now they want to send an orbiter too, this budget is far too small.

cIclops · 2007-01-09 03:19:50

NASA funds ExoMars science mission

NASA has selected Alian Wang of Washington University, St. Louis, to participate as a member of the science team for the European Space Agency's ExoMars mission. Wang will receive approximately $800,000 to study the chemistry, mineralogy and astrobiology of Mars using instrumentation on the ExoMars mission, scheduled for launch in 2013.
NASA also has selected two proposals for technology development studies that may lead to further NASA contributions to ExoMars or other Mars missions. The two technology development studies, funded for a total of $1.5 million, are:
* Urey Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector: The Urey instrument would investigate organics and oxidant materials on Mars using three complementary detection systems. The principal investigator is Jeffrey Bada, University of California at San Diego.
* Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, or MOMA: The instrument would investigate organic molecular signatures and the environment in which they exist using a mass spectrometer and gas chromatograph. The principal investigator is Luann Becker, University of California at Santa Barbara.

SpaceNut · 2007-01-12 07:43:51

NASA Funds Scripps Instrument For Probing For Life on Mars European Space Agency's ExoMars rover mission.

Detector to hunt for organic molecules during proposed 2013 mission.

$750,000 in funding for development of an instrument to detect signs of life on Mars proposed by a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

cIclops · 2007-01-18 04:00:49

ExoMars confusion - 17 Jan 2007

New Scientist Space and AFP
The European Space Agency's ExoMars mission, designed to drill into the Martian soil to look for signs of life, may have to be scaled back so its planned launcher can loft it into space, ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain warned on Wednesday.
ExoMars, a planned 200-kilogram wheeled rover, is supposed to drill 2 metres below the surface to see if the Red Planet has microbial life, or the potential for it. It was initially set to launch in 2011, but this date has already been postponed by two years to help pin down what its goals should be.
In a meeting with the press in Paris, France, Dordain said the rover was over-burdened with instruments compared with the launch capability of the Russian Soyuz rocket that is contracted to take it aloft.

ESA members will have to either lose some of its planned instruments so it can be launched by a Soyuz, or opt for a bigger launcher, which will cost more money, he said. In 2005, ESA members earmarked €650 million ($838 million) for ExoMars.
Furthermore, the agency is not yet certain how it will get precious data from the rover back to Earth. Dordain said he was "not 100% sure" that a NASA orbiter would be able to act as a relay, and this raised the question as to whether a European craft would be needed to play the linking role."There's no point launching ExoMars if you then find that you don't have a communications link," Dordain pointed out.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2007-02-17 02:58:57

ExoMars confusion - 17 Jan 2007

So the alternative mission scenario is using a launch from Kourou with Ariane in 2013 and therefore doubling of the scientific payload, however any delays on the Mars mission will only cost ESA more money.

cIclops · 2007-02-17 03:28:58

So the alternative mission scenario is using a launch from Kourou with Ariane in 2013 and therefore doubling of the scientific payload, however any delays on the Mars mission will only cost ESA more money.

By using a much more expensive Ariane V and delaying the launch to 2013 they may be able to keep the original payload instead of reducing it. IMO the budget is still way too small, ESA are not taking this project seriously.

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2007-10-21 11:09:59

BBC news item

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7053057.stm

I see no mention of Mars

but I do see other missions

Laplace. To study the Jovian system (three orbiters, one entirely dedicated to Europa!) in collaboration with NASA.
Tandem. To study the Saturnian-Titanian-Enceladusian environment (orbiter+carrier with a balloon and 3 probes to Titan) in colaboration with NASA.
Marco Polo. Sample return mission from an asteroid (à la Hayabusa) with orbiter+lander, sampler and return capsule; in collaboration with JAXA.
Dune/SPACE. Two proposed missions to study dark matter and dark energy.
Plato. Extrasolar planets detector, capable of detecting rocky planets.
Spica. Infrared telescope with wide field of analysis, spectroscopy and coronograph; in collaboration with JAXA.
XEUS. X-ray telescope to study extreme environments from L2 halo orbit, consisting on a mirror satellite and a detector satellite flying in formation.

Possible future cuts to ESA's Mars missions in favor of Jupiter/Saturn missions ?

cIclops · 2007-10-21 23:37:53

ExoMars is under development and is planned for 2013. These are new missions that are part of the Cosmic Vision program. The next big Mars mission after ExoMars will be the sample return, the Mars work is all part of the Aurora program.

SpaceNut · 2007-11-13 08:26:47

On a Martian mission

Scribner Associates Inc., a laboratory supplier for electrochemical researchers, has received a $600,000 NASA contract to build an electronic measuring system. That system is slated to become one component of an ExoMars rover that should hit the red planet in 2013.
In 2006, the Southern Pines-based company was awarded an initial six-month, $100,000 contract to study the feasibility of building an electronic device that would measure various oxidants — a type of chemical compound — that may be found in Martian soil and atmosphere. Scientists will study the amounts and types of oxidants to help determine whether life existed on Mars.

Article also indicates that Nasa if they like the unit may also extend a contract for it as well.

EuroLauncher · 2007-11-21 02:39:02

Europe eyes Mars landing sites
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7093172.stm

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

Europe's ExoMars rover is scheduled to launch in 2013
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.
The locations on the shortlist are all being targeted as potential landing sites for these missions.
They host some of Mars' oldest rocks, which were in contact with water just after the planet's formation....
...

See also
ExoMars to be "Upgraded"
http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4491

cIclops · 2007-11-22 15:40:20

ExoMars - paper from EMSEC 2007 (PDF 7MB) - 13 Nov 2007

Lots of details!

cIclops · 2008-02-27 10:08:06

Experts test Mars vehicle model - 25 Feb 2008 - see video

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.
A robotic arm for collecting samples and a panoramic camera built by the scientists are being tested.

SpaceNut · 2012-02-13 20:49:16

The proposed budget would give NASA $17.71 billion, about $60 million less than the agency received for 2012. The biggest change in the budget is a $300 million cut in the agency's planetary science program, including termination of planned cooperation with the European Space Agency on the ExoMars program, which included an orbiter in 2016 and lander/rover in 2018. NASA officials said they were restructuring its Mars exploration plan, including potential missions in 2018 and 2020 that were less expensive than ExoMars, while also leaving the door open for renewed cooperation with Europe.

SpaceNut · 2012-02-27 22:36:03

Scientists See Red on NASA Cuts of Mars Missions

Earlier this month, the president's budget canceled joint U.S.-European robotic missions to Mars in 2016 and 2018. Now top science officials say they are scrambling to come up with a plan by the end of the summer for a cut-rate journey to the red planet in 2018. That's when Mars passes closest to Earth, something that only happens once every 15 years. It offers a chance at fuel cost-savings and the ability to send up more equipment.
NASA said it doesn't quite know what a reconfigured 2018 mission would look like, but it would be cost-capped at $700 million and it won't be landing. If it's lucky, it may orbit Mars.

Awesome Facts About the Mars Rover

SpaceNut · 2014-01-28 20:54:43

Russian-Europe ExoMars mission to head for Mars in 2018
We are creating a two-tonne landing module for this mission. It will transport a 3,000-kilogram European rover to the surface of Mars," he said.

SpaceNut · 2014-02-04 19:41:54

Comprising two missions that will be launched to Mars in 2016 the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module and 2018, respectively ESA’s rover and the Russian surface platform.

ExoMars orbiter core module completed

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter module consisting of the spacecraft structure, thermal control and propulsion systems was handed over by OHB System to Thales Alenia Space France at a ceremony held in Bremen, Germany, today.
The delivery marks an important step in the ExoMars programme, a joint endeavour between ESA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency.
The second mission, with ESA’s rover and the Russian surface platform, is scheduled for launch in May 2018, arriving at the planet in early 2019. Roscosmos is the main partner of ESA on ExoMars.

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#1 2005-04-12 03:10:13

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#2 2005-04-27 10:08:40

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#3 2006-01-18 08:08:51

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#4 2006-02-08 14:35:00

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#5 2006-04-26 10:35:51

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#6 2006-09-16 08:29:45

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#7 2006-09-18 15:45:08

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#8 2006-09-19 22:37:45

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#9 2006-10-28 11:18:07

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#10 2006-11-10 19:00:51

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#11 2007-01-09 03:19:50

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#12 2007-01-12 07:43:51

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#13 2007-01-18 04:00:49

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#14 2007-02-17 02:58:57

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#15 2007-02-17 03:28:58

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#16 2007-10-21 11:09:59

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#17 2007-10-21 23:37:53

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#18 2007-11-13 08:26:47

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#19 2007-11-21 02:39:02

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#20 2007-11-22 15:40:20

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#21 2008-02-27 10:08:06

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#22 2012-02-13 20:49:16

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#23 2012-02-27 22:36:03

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#24 2014-01-28 20:54:43

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

#25 2014-02-04 19:41:54

Re: ExoMars - ESA Mars rover

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