16/03/2016
SENER is back to Mars
SENER is back to Mars
The ExoMars 2016 Russo-European mission separated from the launch vehicle to leave the terrestrial orbit and start its long journey to the Red Planet.
The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) space probe and its lander called Schiaparelli took off at 10.31 am Barcelona time aboard a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonour cosmodrom in Kazakhstan. They started then a seven-month journey to travel the corresponding 496 million kilometers.
On next October 1, after completing the journey, Schiaparelli lander will separate from TGO probe and will land on Mars three days later. For its part, TGO will reach a circular orbit at a 400 meters altitude. As a noise would do, TGO will search for trace gazes in the Mars atmosphere, especially carbon gases such as methane that can inform about current or past lives.
On that mission and on the ExoMars 2018 following one, SENER whose Catalan headquarters are located in the Barcelona Synchrotron Park, will bring again its technology on Mars (lander and front shield separation mechanism) following the company’s contribution to Curiosity, the NASA rover that has been exploring the planet since 2012 (SENER supplied the pointing mechanism for the antenna that enables bi-directional communication between the rover and the Earth).
Have a good trip!
The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) space probe and its lander called Schiaparelli took off at 10.31 am Barcelona time aboard a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonour cosmodrom in Kazakhstan. They started then a seven-month journey to travel the corresponding 496 million kilometers.
On next October 1, after completing the journey, Schiaparelli lander will separate from TGO probe and will land on Mars three days later. For its part, TGO will reach a circular orbit at a 400 meters altitude. As a noise would do, TGO will search for trace gazes in the Mars atmosphere, especially carbon gases such as methane that can inform about current or past lives.
On that mission and on the ExoMars 2018 following one, SENER whose Catalan headquarters are located in the Barcelona Synchrotron Park, will bring again its technology on Mars (lander and front shield separation mechanism) following the company’s contribution to Curiosity, the NASA rover that has been exploring the planet since 2012 (SENER supplied the pointing mechanism for the antenna that enables bi-directional communication between the rover and the Earth).
Have a good trip!
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