ESA Mars Mission On Its Way To The Red Planet

Hey Space Placers!

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Roscosmos launched  a new mission to Mars - ExoMars 2016 - today. ESA provided the spacecraft while Roscosmos provided the Proton rocket.
The mission is designed to look for evidence of life on Mars via gasses that could be caused by biological processes.

The launch was successful and all systems checked out for Martian orbit insertion which was performed. After a 7 month cruise to Mars the spacecraft which consists of an orbiter and lander will arrive in orbit around Mars in October.





Sky Guy in VA