The Aurora Programme of the European Space Agency is dedicated to the robotic and human exploration of the Solar System bodies holding promises of traces of life, In this frame the programme is also preparing Europe for a participation in a possible human mission to Mars, expected to become a reality by the years around 2030. In order to reach this goal a series of robotic Mars missions are planned. The acquisition of knowledge related to the existence of traces of past or present life on Mars is considered a prerequisite for future human missions. ExoMars, the first major mission of the Aurora programme, planned to be launched in 2009, foresees a Mars surface rover equipped with an "exobiology" or "astrobiology" payload package to examine several samples of mars soil and collect scientific data.
The ExoMars Mission of ESA's Aurora Programme
Ninth Biennial Conference on Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments ; 2004 ; League City, Houston, Texas, United States
2004-03-03
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
The ExoMars Mission of ESA's Aurora Programme
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004
|ESA's Earth Observation Programme and the ERS Mission
British Library Online Contents | 1997
|Online Contents | 1997