ESA selects ExoMars landing site
Posted: Sat, Oct 24, 2015, 11:30 AM ET (1530 GMT)
The European Space Agency has selected a region thought to once be a river delta as the landing site for a 2018 rover mission. ESA announced Wednesday that it plans to land its ExoMars 2018 rover in the Oxia Planum region of Mars in January 2019, eight months after its launch on a Proton rocket. The area, in the planet's equatorial region, is rich in minerals that suggest that it hosted liquid water early in the planet's history, and has geological features similar to rover deltas on Earth. ExoMars 2018 will follow up ESA's ExoMars 2016 mission scheduled for launch early next year; that mission consists of an orbiter and a small lander to demonstrate technologies for landing on the planet.
The European Space Agency has selected a region thought to once be a river delta as the landing site for a 2018 rover mission. ESA announced Wednesday that it plans to land its ExoMars 2018 rover in the Oxia Planum region of Mars in January 2019, eight months after its launch on a Proton rocket. The area, in the planet's equatorial region, is rich in minerals that suggest that it hosted liquid water early in the planet's history, and has geological features similar to rover deltas on Earth. ExoMars 2018 will follow up ESA's ExoMars 2016 mission scheduled for launch early next year; that mission consists of an orbiter and a small lander to demonstrate technologies for landing on the planet.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, March 11
Firefly Rocket Launch at Vandenberg Delayed for Second Day in a Row
Noozhawk — 6:53 am ET (1053 GMT) A meteor soared across Europe—and possibly hit a house
Popular Science — 6:52 am ET (1052 GMT) The tiny lens antenna with big potential
ESA — 6:52 am ET (1052 GMT) Starlink’s Pricing Shift: A Bait and Switch for General Aviation
Flying — 6:52 am ET (1052 GMT) Kenyan regulator audits Starlink’s D2C service for interference issues
Developing Telecoms — 6:51 am ET (1051 GMT) |
