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In Britain, work has begun on the construction of a robot vehicle that will be sent to search for life on Mars.
The Martian rover of the European Space Agency is under construction at Stevenage in order to explore the Martian surface in 2021.
It has a drill to probe up to two meters below the surface of Mars and has on-board instruments that can examine the samples found.
The 300-kg robotic vehicle is capable of traveling 2 cm per second for at least 90 days, but scientists hope it will remain active as long as the latest US mobile, Curiosity, landed in August 2012 and is still in business. course of exploration.
Artist view of the ExoMars rover on the surface of the red planet. Pic: ESA
Liz Seward, senior strategist at Airbus Defense and Space at Stevenage, said it was a first for the European space project.
"This is part of a great plan called the global shipping roadmap," she said.
"We have robot shipments on the moon and on Mars and the plan is to bring humans to the moon and Mars by 2030.
Airbus has built an environment that mimics the surface of Mars to challenge the rover
"What's really exciting is that this week we will be sending some of the Orion probe to America, the European contribution to people going to the moon in the next few years."
The Orion spacecraft is a European-American joint venture designed eventually to bring humans to the Moon, Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
Airbus, which bases its space systems division at Stevenage, is responsible for the construction of the Orion service module and the ExoMars rover project.
Ms. Seward said that the exploration of Mars by robots should pave the way for humans in the coming decades.
"I really think we can explore Mars, colonization is tricky – it's a very harsh environment," she added.
Artist view of the Airbus Service Module for the Orion Space Project. Pic: Airbus / NASA
"But the plan for the next two or three decades is to see how people can live in space and use the moon as a test site, and then, after 2030, people will explore the red planet. "
The European Space Agency is planning to launch its March rover during its summer 2020 voyage in order to see it land in the spring of 2021.
While previous expeditions had examined the chemistry and geology of the Martian surface, Seward said the European robot would examine its potential biology.
A prototype of the rover, nicknamed Bruno, was brought Sunday on the campus of Sky to illustrate its capabilities.
NASA's Mars Curiosity robot discovered cracks in sedimentary rock suggesting liquid water
It preceded the launch of the new six-part series of National Geographic's Mars channel, produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and featuring interviews with Elon Musk, among others.
The show will examine how it will be possible to live on Mars and will address topics such as the tension between scientific exploration and the commercial opportunities that such missions will open up.
Previous American rovers on Mars have discovered fossilized cracks in mud and sediments suggesting the presence of liquid water in the past of Mars, other signs that led the team to conclude that the Living conditions on the planet have lasted for millions of years and were key elements that could have provided the building blocks for life.
:: The second season of March begins on Sunday, November 11 at 8 pm on National Geographic.
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