The 2016 ExoMars mission, the first of a joint program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos Russian to explore the red raises, today successfully took off from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan).
"We're way to Mars. Excellent," he told Efe the CEO of the ESA, Jan Woerner, nothing takeoff occur.
The launch took place without incident at 09.31 GMT and is expected to rocket Proton-M reaches Mars in October, when the spacecraft will be divided into two parts.
The satellite Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will be devoted to studying the gases of the Martian atmosphere, while the Schiaparelli module will touch down on the surface of that planet to validate landing technology for the second and most complex part of the program, ExoMars 2018 .
European and Russian scientists, who since 2000 outlining the mission, will have to wait seven months to confirm that the mission develops according to its calculations and reaches the fourth planet in the solar system when Mars is about 145 million kilometers the earth.
But the first signs of relief will come nine hours after launch, when the top module of the spacecraft thrusters wash away the past and return to Earth the first sign confirming that is in route to your destination.
Then the ship will continue its journey to the red planet and once in the vicinity, eject the Schiaparelli probe, a laboratory of 600 kilos to go through the Martian atmosphere, it will come off their shields and will drop on the surface helped a parachute and liquid propulsion system.
Once at their destination, the Martian Meridiani Planum region, analyze some basic features of your host, such as pressure or temperature, although their real success would be landing in a controlled manner on the neighboring planet.
and a milestone in the history of European exploration of Mars as the only precedent, the Beagle UK and ESA 2003, failed to take land because two of its four solar panels failed to deploy and blocked their communications antenna.
If he manages to land successfully on the Martian soil and send information to centers of ground control, Schiaparelli validate part of the complex landing technology, which will help the ExoMars 2018 mission send to Mars a 'rover "vehicle capable of traveling several kilometers and digging up to two meters underground to collect and analyze samples.
Schiaparelli will have a lifespan of between two and eight Martian days (a Martian day, or sol is 24 hours and 37 minutes) and blackout mark the beginning of the mission of his traveling companion, the TGO.
Mars orbiter that will fly over 400 km altitude for four years in order to study the presence of methane and other gases in the Martian atmosphere, clarify whether its origin is geochemical, biological and volcanic or what their emission sources.
The TGO will also focus on mapping the hydrogen present in the subsurface of Mars, "which can help you choose the landing sites for future missions, as they can indicate hidden reserves of water ice", they explained those responsible for the ESA.