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The European Space Agency and Russian Roscosmos launched a new Mars mission this morning. The two space agencies are collaborating to search for life on Mars, and the ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) probes that lifted off today are the first phase of a 2-role launch.

At that place are ii separate vehicles in this first phase — the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), seen to a higher place, and the Schiaparelli EDM Lander. (EDM stands for Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module). Schiaparelli is a proof-of-concept design with non-rechargeable batteries capable of providing power for 4 Martian days (a Martian twenty-four hour period is known every bit a sol and is 39 minutes longer than our own 24-hour interval). Schiaparelli will deliberately land during Mars' dust storm flavor, and in an expanse expected to feel them during the landing procedure. The goal is to measure the electric fields on the surface of Mars, also as ambient humidity and the concentration of grit particles within the Martian atmosphere.

Schiaparelli

The Schiaparelli EDM prototype, courtesy of Wikipedia

The Trace Gas Orbiter, as the name implies, will slip into Mars' orbit and begin mapping the Mars temper for traces of methane. NASA'due south original tests showed no methane in the Martian atmosphere, but afterward data collected by Marvel proved that methane is emitted on the Red Planet in quick bursts that misemploy subsequently a short period of time.

Methane on Mars

Methane on Mars tin be produced in a number of ways.

Methyl hydride production on Mars doesn't prove the existence of life on the Red Planet — as the image above shows, there are a number of ways that methane could be produced that are strictly inorganic. The Trace Gas Orbiter will strop in on where marsh gas is being produced while simultaneously searching for a suitable landing site for the next phase of the project — the ExoMars rover.

Prototype-Orbiter

Bridget the rover, pictured hither with Paranal Observatory in the groundwork. ESA'south 2018 ExoMars mission is acting as the reference mission for the trial.

The ExoMars rover will include a panoramic photographic camera, multiple spectrometers, basis penetrating radar, a drill capable of boring upward to ii meters (6.6 feet) beneath the Martian surface, likewise as a complete organic sample analysis bundle. It volition include Russian-designed radioisotope heater units, though these are presumably used for keeping instruments warm, not principal rover power. The Trace Gas Orbiter will human action every bit a communications relay for both Schiaparelli and the ExoMars lander when it arrives. Currently the ExoMars lander is planned to launch in 2018, though delays could push that back to 2020.

Breaking the Martian expletive

If the ExoMars mission succeeds, it will be a milestone for both Europe and its Russian partner. Mars has been annihilation but easy to explore, and NASA is the just organization that has enjoyed much success.

The starting time Soviet Martian probes, Mars 2 and 3, failed on descent and xx seconds after landing respectively. Mars half dozen failed on descent, as did the Phobos 1 and Phobos ii probes, both launched in 1988, and the Mars eight / Mars 96 probe that launched in 1996. The Japanese probe Nozomi failed to reach Mars. The ESA-launched Beagle 2 arrived at Mars but never confirmed a successful landing, though the Mars Limited Orbiter that launched with the Beagle 2 lander remains fully functional as of this writing.

MarsMissionsByYear

NASA, nonetheless, has scarcely been immune. The Mars Observer failed in-transit in 1992, and the Mars Climate Orbiter was lost in 1999 due to a unit conversion error between metric and English units. The Polar Lander failed in 1999, as did Deep Infinite 2. The graph above is courtesy of Wikipedia, and shows the total number of Mars launches and attempted landings. Our total success rate across all countries and launches is but 53%, though those figures have improved markedly since the turn of the century.

The ExoMars rover should take company on the Martian surface before also long. The Mars 2020 rover is currently in the planning stages at NASA and is meant for a 2020 launch. This rover would be based on Curiosity's blueprint, merely with more advanced scientific payloads and may include a helicopter drone that can launch and fly independently of the rover itself. The drone, if used, will plot the all-time route through areas and assist identify assay targets.

If the Trace Gas Orbiter is able to identify the almost likely source of methyl hydride emissions on Mars, we could have an respond to whether life ever existed on the planet within 5-vi years. Even finding dead microbes on the planet would exist an incredible accomplishment — we'd finally know that life can and has existed outside of Earth's environment.