Tag Archives: Roscosmos

ExoMars: Oxia Planum landing site favored

[Ed. note: See also here.] The ExoMars Landing Site Selection Working Group has recommended Oxia Planum as the landing site for the ESA-Roscosmos rover and surface science platform that will launch to the Red Planet in 2020. The proposal will be … Continue reading

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Trace Gas Orbiter: Juventae Chasma’s layered mound

This striking view of layered sediments on Mars was captured by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter’s Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, on 2 October 2018. The image, which covers an area 25 x 7 km wide, focuses on a … Continue reading

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ExoMars: Measures radiation risk for Mars astronauts, watches dust storm subside

Astronauts on a mission to Mars would be exposed to at least 60% of the total radiation dose limit recommended for their career during the journey itself to and from the Red Planet, according to data from the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars … Continue reading

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Trace Gas Orbiter: Frosty crater on Mars

This image shows the south-facing rim of a pit crater at 68°S in the Sisyphi Planum region of Mars. It is a colour composite made from images acquired on 2 September 2018 by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, … Continue reading

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ExoMars TGO: South polar layered deposits

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured this view of part of the south polar ice cap on Mars on 13 May 2018. The poles of Mars have huge ice caps that are similar to Earth’s polar caps in Greenland and … Continue reading

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ExoMars 2020 rover set for tough environmental tests

A representative model of the ExoMars rover that will land on Mars in 2021 is beginning a demanding test campaign that will ensure it can survive the rigours of launch and landing, as well as operations under the environmental conditions … Continue reading

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Toaster oven-sized chem lab to seek evidence of life on Mars

An international team of scientists has created a tiny chemistry lab for a rover that will drill beneath the Martian surface looking for signs of past or present life. The toaster oven-sized lab, called the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer or … Continue reading

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ExoMars poised to start science mission

The ExoMars orbiter will soon begin its search for gases that may be linked to active geological or biological activity on the Red Planet. The Trace Gas Orbiter has reached its final orbit after a year of ‘aerobraking’ that ended … Continue reading

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ExoMars 2020: First parachute test successful

The largest parachute ever to fly on a Mars mission has been deployed in the first of a series of tests to prepare for the upcoming ExoMars mission that will deliver a rover and a surface science platform to the … Continue reading

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ExoMars: Surfing complete

Slowed by skimming through the very top of the upper atmosphere, ESA’s ExoMars has lowered itself into a planet-hugging orbit and is about ready to begin sniffing the Red Planet for methane. The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter arrived at Mars … Continue reading

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