As you surely know, since the failure of the mission was very popular, the ESA, European Space Agency, had its moment of glory at the beginning of this year when the ExoMars it reached Mars and prepared to launch the Schiaparelli robot towards its surface. Unfortunately, the robot ended up crashing against the surface of the neighboring planet, which caused the leaders of ESA to meet and decide whether or not to continue with the mission.
After all this time, we have been able to learn that ESA has managed to reach an agreement with the company Thales Alenia Space. Thanks to this, it is guaranteed that there will be a second attempt in which a new robot will be put to work on the surface of Mars. This new mission has been baptized as Exo Mars 2020 And, as its name suggests, the launch of this new module is scheduled to take place in July 2020.
The ExoMars mission will get a second chance in 2020 thanks to the agreement reached between ESA and Thales Alenia Space.
Apparently, this new mission will consist of three very specific points. In the first we find the flight and trip to Mars proper and the landing of a robot that will have the ability to excavate up to two meters deep. The objective of this point is to literally see if life could ever exist on Mars.
In a second phase the scientists will begin to study and investigate all the data provided by the Trace Gas Orbiter, a module that has been orbiting the neighboring planet for quite some time, collecting data on the gases present in its atmosphere. The study of these data will allow us to know if there is any possibility that at some point in the history of the planet this could have the right conditions for the existence of life.
As the last milestone to be achieved, we find the deployment of a rover endowed with an autonomy of about 230 days that will be dedicated to exploring the surface of the planet.
Further information: Phys