Tag Archives: Trace Gas Orbiter

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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Closer to solving the methane mystery

Planetary scientists are getting closer to solving the puzzle of methane on Mars. New calculations could help to explain why NASA’s Curiosity rover detects peaks of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere during the planet’s northern summer. As winter gives … 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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HiRISE: Pitted cones: possible methane sources?

This observation shows relatively bright mounds scattered throughout darker and diverse surfaces in Chryse Planitia. These mounds are hundreds of meters in size. The largest of the mounds shows a central pit, similar to the collapsed craters found at the … 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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ExoMars TGO returns first images from orbit

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has returned the first images of the Red Planet from its new orbit. The spacecraft arrived in a near-circular 400 km altitude orbit a few weeks ago ahead of its primary goal to seek out … 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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