Is there life on Mars? To find an answer to this question, the Russian-European station "ExoMars-2016" went to the Red Planet. DW presents the project.
It took the first Russian-European interplanetary station "ExoMars-2016" seven months to fly 500 million kilometers before reaching Mars. On Sunday, October 16, she split into two modules, one of which - "Schiaparelli" - on Wednesday, October 19, is to land on the Red Planet. DW has compiled key facts about the ExoMars project and why it is of historical importance.
What is ExoMars?
ExoMars is a joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian state corporation Roscosmos for the study of Mars. Its main goal is to search for signs of life on the fourth planet farthest from the Sun. Hence the name of the mission, the first part of which is a reference to exobiology, the science that searches for extraterrestrial life.
The ExoMars-2016 mission was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on March 14, 2016. It was originally planned that the American space agency NASA would take part in the project, which costs about 1.3 billion euros. However, it was reportedly abandoned due to problems with US funding.
As a result, Russia provided the Proton-M launch vehicle. She launched an interplanetary station into space, consisting of two modules. Russia, along with the Europeans, will process the scientific information collected by ExoMars. This will involve two space communication stations located in the Moscow and Tver regions.
How is the mission carried out?
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The ExoMars program includes two stages. In the first, in 2016, the TGO (Trace Gas Orbiter) orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander, named after the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, were sent to the Red Planet. The first will remain in the orbit of Mars and will explore its atmosphere, the second will work out the technology of landing on the planet. On Sunday, October 16, on its approach to Mars, the TGO orbiter successfully separated from the Schiaparelli lander.
The start of the second stage is scheduled for 2020. Then a Russian landing platform and a European rover will be launched to Mars. At this stage, it is planned to drill and analyze the planet's soil. As in the first stage, the launch of the interplanetary station with equipment will be carried out using the Russian Proton-M rocket. The mission is expected to complete in 2022.
Why is it important?
ExoMars is the first ever mission to find life on the Red Planet. To find the answer to the question “Is there life on Mars?”, Which has been exciting science for more than a decade, the TGO orbital module will look in the planet's atmosphere for traces of methane and other gases that may be a sign of the existence of life. However, if on Earth the overwhelming volume of atmospheric methane is a consequence of biological processes, then on Mars, methane can be of both biological and volcanic origin. TGO's task is to study the composition of the Martian atmosphere and determine the origin of the methane contained in it.
In turn, the Schiaparelli module was programmed to enter the atmosphere of Mars at a speed of 21 thousand kilometers per hour, then slow down with the help of an aerodynamic brake and a parachute and land. It was scheduled for 17:42 Moscow time, so that in six minutes it would transmit a signal to Earth.
For Europe, this is the first attempt in the past 13 years to land on Mars, made after the unsuccessful launch of the Beagle lander in 2003. Russia last sent a mission to Mars in 2011. Then the interplanetary station "Phobos-Grunt" was supposed to take soil samples from the satellite of the Red planet Phobos, but could not leave the near-earth orbit due to an accident.
