Friday, 29 March, 2024, 7:08 AM
Advance Search
Home

Mars rover mission delayed until 2022

Published : Saturday, 14 March, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 233

Multiple technical issues will delay the launch of the ExoMars mission for 2 years until 2022, the European Space Agency (ESA) and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, announced today. ExoMars includes a Russian-built landing station and an ESA rover that would drill 2 meters below Mars's surface to look for signs of past or present life. Now, just 4 months from its originally planned launch, the mission has been postponed because of problems with its parachute system, solar panels, and electrical wiring.
"We cannot really cut corners," said ESA Director General Jan W�erner today at a press conference, following a meeting with Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin. "It was a very tough decision, but I'm sure it was the right one."
Although the issues could be resolved in the next few months, W�erner said there was not enough time to test the mission's software system on the final flight-ready spacecraft. He did not want a repeat of the failure of ESA's first Mars lander, 2016's Schiaparelli, which crashed because of a software error during its descent.
Once repairs and testing are complete-probably by the end of the year-the lander and rover will be put into storage until the next launch window in the autumn of 2022, when the planets are aligned to allow the quickest journey. Scientists who have spent decades building instruments for the mission are philosophical about the delay. "Such is life. It's the way it goes," says Val�rie Ciarletti of the University of Paris-Saclay. "Space missions are like this," says Francesca Esposito of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte.    -BBC



















Latest News
Most Read News
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
  [ABOUT US]     [CONTACT US]   [AD RATE]   Developed & Maintenance by i2soft