A panoramic view of the ExoMars Project

Abstract

ExoMars is a cooperative programme between ESA and ROSCOSMOS, with NASA contributions. ExoMars includes two missions, one in 2016 and one in 2018, and is considered a necessary preparatory step for the future realisation of an international Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission during the second half of the next decade. The 2016 mission includes two elements: an orbiting satellite (Trace Gas Orbiter, TGO) devoted to the study of atmospheric trace gases and subsurface water, with the goal to acquire information on possible on-going geological or biological processes; and an Entry, Descent, and landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) to achieve a successful soft landing on Mars. The TGO will also provide data communication services for surface missions landing on Mars, nominally until end 2022. The mission will be launched in January 2016, using a Proton rocket, and will arrive to Mars in October 2016. The 2018 mission will deliver a 300-kg-class rover and an instrumented landed platform to the surface of Mars. The mission will pursue one of the outstanding questions of our time by attempting to establish whether life ever existed, or is still present on Mars today. The platform will carry out scientific environmental measurements at the landing site.The mission is scheduled to launch in May 2018 and arrive to Mars in January 2019. This presentation will describe the status and the challenges of the ExoMars project.