The European Space Agency has announced that it has suspended the space mission ExoMarsin collaboration with Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. This ambitious project involved the launch of a rover by September of this year and it was one of the most anticipated space events of 2022 that we had already told you about.
ESA has released a press release explaining the reasons for this suspension born following the invasion of Russia against Ukraine, a war action that does not reflect the values of the member states that are part of the European Space Agency. For this reason he decided to to interrupt collaboration, despite the serious impact this suspension will have on the progress of European space exploration.
ExoMars, difficult from the start
The ExoMars mission has faced several challenges over the years. Initially it was supposed to be in collaboration with the NASA and the European agency had already begun work on its design, but NASA had to pull back following significant budget cuts. So ESA has agreed with the Russian Roscosmos and this change of partner has caused several problems, having to replace many technologiesas well as wasting time and money.
Despite the first delays and postponements, the mission took shape. It provided for two distinct missions. The first, which took place in 2016, saw the launch of a probe, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and del Schiaparelli EDM Lander, in honor of the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. The launch took place with a rocket Proton-M departed from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Trace Gas Orbiter is the main module of the first part of the ExoMars mission, with the purpose of studying gases present in the Martian atmosphere and to allow the communications with the rover of the second mission. The TGO has successfully completed its maneuvers to position itself in the Martian orbit and is currently operational.
In addition, the Trace Gas Orbiter released the Lander Schiaparelli, whose task was to test the landing systems ahead of the rover launch scheduled for autumn 2022. Unfortunately, however, a malfunction of the gyroscope has sent the landing system of the lander that crashed on Mars into a tailspin.
The second part of the ExoMars mission was originally scheduled for 2018but for technical problems the launch was postponed to July 2020. Unfortunately, the launch scheduled for the summer of 2020 was also postponed due to the pandemic COVID-19 which slowed down the work of technicians and researchers. The expected launch period therefore fell on autumn 2022, but once again it had to be postponed given the tense relations between Western countries and Russia following the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
The second part of the mission involved the launch of the Rosalind Franklin roverwith the aim of searching and studying biochemical and geological traces on Mars, thanks to a drill capable of drilling the Martian surface up to two meters deep.
The second part of ExoMars was scheduled to launch aboard the Russian Proton-M rocket from the Kazakh cosmodrome of Baikonur. Furthermore, the collaboration with Roscosmos included the use of the platform Kazachokwhich was a key component of the landing system of the Rosalind Franklin rover. Ironically, the term Kazachok also indicates a traditional Ukrainian and Russian dance from the 16th century.
ESA is currently evaluating and studying new possible solutions, but the project will still suffer delays, as the optimal launch windows occur approximately every two years, depending on the orbital positions of the two planets. The hope is to restore relations with Russia and continue the collaboration with Roscosmos, so that the project can be ready by 2024.
Another hypothesis under consideration concerns a possible renewed collaboration with the NASAbut this more radical reconfiguration could lead to launch in 2026 or 2028.
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