ExoMars to Take Off for the Red Planet in 2022, not 2020 “In the frame of a dedicated meeting, ESA and Roscosmos heads Jan Wörner and Dmitry Rogozin agreed that further tests to the spacecraft with the final hardware and software are needed. In addition, the parties had to recognise that the final phase of ExoMars activities are compromised by the general aggravation of the epidemiological situation in European countries.”
Schiaparelli Impact Site on Mars Viewed From Orbit “This Oct. 25, 2016, image shows the area where the European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli test lander reached the surface of Mars, with magnified insets of three sites where components of the spacecraft hit the ground. It is the first view of the site from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter taken after the Oct. 19, […]
Schiaparelli Crash Site Located From Orbit “NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified new markings on the surface of the Red Planet that are believed to be related to ESA’s ExoMars Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing technology demonstrator module. Estimates are that Schiaparelli dropped from a height of between 2 and 4 kilometres, therefore impacting at a considerable speed, greater than 300 km/h. The relatively large size of the feature would […]
Looking for Schiaparelli At Wharton Ridge “On Wednesday 19 October the ExoMars Schiaparelli module will land on Mars at 10:48 am EDT. There is a chance that Opportunity may see it on the horizon as it descends. The name of this location on the rim of Endeavour crater was initially announced a week or so ago. “Wharton Ridge” is named after Robert A. Wharton.” Taking In The View From Wharton […]
Did the New Russia-Europe Mars Mission Narrowly Escape a Launch Disaster?, Popular Mechanics “After the launch reached the initial parking orbit around the Earth, the Proton’s fourth stage (known as Briz-M, Russian for “breeze”) acted as a space tug, boosting the space probe on a path to Mars with four engine firings. What happened next was a close call that could have ended the mission catastrophically. And ExoMars still isn’t […]
U.S., Europe Won’t Go It Alone in Mars Exploration, Space News “Let me say this clearly, because we hear all the time that NASA has ‘abandoned’ ExoMars,” Bolden said. “We have not abandoned ExoMars, and the Electra payload is an example of our continuing high interest in the mission.” ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, NASA.gov “NASA will not be moving forward with the planned 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions that we […]
Appropriators Blocking Mars Mission Move, Aviation Week “This proposal represents a significant deviation from the robotic exploration program plan as it was approved by Congress in NASA’s fiscal year 2012 appropriations, and the committee believes that so radical a change in policy needs and deserves to be fully considered by a process that is more rigorous and more inclusive than” the reprogramming notification, Wolf writes.” Rep. Schiff Applauds Decision to […]
Letter to Hillary Clinton and John Holdren: James Webb Space Telescope and our International Commitments, James Webb Space Telescope Advisory Committee (JSTAC) “In this letter we wish to reiterate to the Administration the importance of JWST to our international partners and of our commitments to them. Through a series of unfortunate cancellations of planned NASA participation in key space science missions (e.g., Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, International X-Ray Observatory, ExoMars) […]
NASA, ESA: No Agreement on Mars Mission, Aviation Week “NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and his European Space Agency counterpart, Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, failed to settle their differences on restructuring the two agencies’ joint robotic Mars exploration program at a meeting Oct. 3, and now hint that it may be time to bring Russia or another partner into the mix. At issue is how much of the joint program that […]
