Fwd: Unique descent system for ExoMars

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 4, 2014 2:50:03 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Unique descent system for ExoMars

 

Russian scientists develop unique rover descent system for ExoMars project

 

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Russian scientists have created a unique descent system for a Mars rover, Space Research Institute Director Lev Zelyony said on Friday.

 

"Our European colleagues want to achieve maximum security for the rover so that it could roll onto Mars' surface in any direction, if need be," he said.

 

"We have developed such a system. It has been decided to make two access ramps which will allow the rover to roll off the landing platform," Zelyony said.

 

Russian scientists will focus on Moon and Mars exploration and repeat the Phobos-Grunt mission in the next decade, Zelyony said earlier.

 

The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) in partnership with the European Space Agency will be carrying out two stages of the ExoMars mission in 2016 and 2018.

 

© 2014 TASS

 

 

 

Russian Scientists Develop Mechanism for Rover's Descent to Mars

 

MOSCOW, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russian scientists have developed a unique mechanism for the rover's descent to the surface of Mars, Lev Zeleny, the head of the Russian Space Research Institute said on Friday.

 

"Our European colleagues want maximum safety for the rover, for it to be able to slide down, if necessary, to the surface of Mars in any direction. We have developed such a system," Zeleny said, adding that the solution presupposes the construction of two ramps upon which the rover will be able to drive off the landing deck.

 

The mechanism has been designed specifically for the joint EU-Russia ExoMars research project.

 

In the spring of 2012, the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) agreed on the development of the so-called ExoMars program.

 

The research program includes the launch of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in 2016, with the goal of collecting data on atmospheric gases present in low concentrations. The project also involves the exploration of ice found in Mars' soil, as well as landing the ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM).

 

The Mars rover is expected to land in 2018 and perform a geological analysis of the planet's soil and search for traces of life.

 

In August Daniil Rodionov, a Russian scientific supervisor of the project, said that Russia will create a landing deck and provide a range of unique scientific equipment for the Russian-European Mars mission.

 

© 2014  RIA Novosti

 

 

Space.com

Four Potential Mars Landing Sites Revealed for Europe's ExoMars Rover

2014, October, 03 14:09

European space officials are eyeing four possible landing sites on Mars for a life-seeking rover that is set to launch in 2018.

http://www.space.com/27343-mars-landing-sites-exomars-rover.html