Missions Are Being Prepared to Go to Mars

September 3, 2009 (LPAC)—As excitement and interest in space exploration grows around the world, there are a number of scientific missions, involving the participation of numerous nations, getting ready to head to Mars.

* Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission will land on the surface of the Martian moon Phobos, and return the first-ever samples of soil from the Mars system to the Earth. It is an 11-ton spacecraft, and a very ambitious mission. Instruments have been contributed by Finland, and communications assets by the European Space Agency. The U.S. Planetary Society is sending 10 types of microorganisms on the mission, and China is contributing a small satellite, the Yinghou-1. There have been rumors since the spring that Phobos-Grunt will be delayed from this Fall to the next flight opportunity, in late 2011, due to the challenging nature of the mission.

* U.S. Mars Science Laboratory is a large lander originally scheduled to launch this year, but pushed back to 2011, due to funding shortfalls and technical challenges. It will carry 10 scientific instruments to analyze the geology of Mars, and be able to detect trace amounts of organic molecules. It will be powered by a radioactive isotope, rather than solar panels.

* European Space Agency's ExoMars, initially scheduled for 2011, was pushed back to 2013 last October to cover the increased cost of the mission, and overcome some technical hurdles. Also a very ambitious mission, Exo-Mars will land, move around on the surface of Mars, and drill into the soil. Then, the Pasteur instrument suite will study the oil's minerological composition in situ looking for conditions conducive to the development of life on Mars.