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Mars is to be explored further.
(Image: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 OIG)
For ESA Airbus will design a rover and spacecraft that will soon help to get soil samples from Mars to the Earth.
Airbus was commissioned by ESA to design a rover to collect rock samples from Mars and launch them into space for a return to Earth. The spaceship for this is also to build Airbus. The company has announced this, citing the importance of both components for this next planned but not yet very concrete step in the exploration of the red planet.
Curiosity of Mars Rover
At the beginning of August 2012, the enthusiasm was high NASA: Curiosity happily landed on Mars. Airbus explained that space agencies of ESA and NASA in Europe and the United States have announced their intention in April to send soil samples from Mars to Earth over the next decade. . want to recover. The Mars Sample-Return Mission (MSR)
should rely on the Mars 2020 robot, which NASA wants to launch that year. It's almost a second curiosity rover with other instruments.
When traveling through the Red Planet, Mars 2020 must use a drill to collect soil and rock samples and place them in small, surface-packed containers. They should be picked up later and brought back to Earth for further badysis. Exactly for this part Airbus is now developing two companions. The "Sample Fetch Rover" must be sent to Mars in 2026, from there on March 2020 and recover the containers. A "Mars Ascent Vehicle" must launch them into space before collecting the Earth Return Orbiter and bringing it back to Earth
The decision is pending
This part of the extremely complex mission is still at the stage planning; Airbus now brings its internal expertise. The space company has already acquired experience with several other ESA missions. On the basis of the studies currently commissioned, the ESA Council of Ministers will decide on the ambitious mission next year.
] (Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech)
(mho)
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