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nhq201610190018 (10/19/2016) --- The Soyuz MS-02 rocket is launched with Expedition 49 Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ryzhikov, Kimbrough, and Borisenko will spend the next four months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
This image of the young volcanic region of Elysium Planitia on Mars [10.3°N, 159.5°E] was taken on 14 April 2021 by the CaSSIS camera on the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).
The two blue parallel trenches in this image, called Cerberus Fossae, were thought to have formed by tectonic processes. They run for almost one thousand km over the volcanic region. In this image, CaSSIS is looking straight down into one of these 2 km-wide fissures.
The floor here is a few hundred metres deep and is filled with coarse-grained sand, likely basaltic in composition, which appears blue in the CaSSIS false-colour composite image. The flat volcanic plains nearby are punctured by small impact craters, which expose possibly the same basaltic materials that we see within Cerberus Fossae.
TGO arrived at Mars in 2016 and began its full science mission in 2018. The spacecraft is not only returning spectacular images, but also providing the best ever inventory of the planet’s atmospheric gases, and mapping the planet’s surface for water-rich locations. It will also provide data relay services for the second ExoMars mission comprising the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok platform, when it arrives on Mars in 2023.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) onboard, Thursday, July 7, 2016 , Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time), Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A 5 km-long landslide dominates this scene, captured by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on 13 April 2021. The landslide has occurred at the rim of a 35 km wide crater in the Aeolis region of Mars (151.88°E/27.38°S).
Landslides are geomorphological processes occurring under specific environmental conditions. On Mars as on Earth, they come in various shapes and sizes, and Earth analogues are used to understand similar processes seen on planetary bodies.
For this particular landslide the failure area, from where the material collapsed, is slightly out of frame, although the transport and deposit zones show great details such as longitudinal striations and flow ridges. The impact craters on the lobe indicates that this is not a recent event, but it remains a challenge to accurately date its formation.
TGO arrived at Mars in 2016 and began its full science mission in 2018. The spacecraft is not only returning spectacular images, but also providing the best ever inventory of the planet’s atmospheric gases, and mapping the planet’s surface for water-rich locations. It will also provide data relay services for the second ExoMars mission comprising the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok platform, when it arrives on Mars in 2023.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
nhq202103270039 (March 27, 2021) --- Expedition 65 prime crew members Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, left, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, center, and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, right, are seen holding their Sokol suits during a fit check, Saturday, March 27, 2021 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They are scheduled to launch on a Soyuz rocket April 9. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Irina Spector)
The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured this image of the floor of the 400 km Antoniadi impact crater on 25 March 2020. This crater is located in the northern hemisphere of Mars in a region named Syrtis Major Planum.
The image was taken with the orbiter’s CaSSIS camera. The blue colour of this image does not represent the real colour of the crater floor but highlights the diversity of rock composition inside.
In the centre of the image are dendritic structures which look like veins on oak leaves. These structures are evidence of ancient river networks in this region. The structures stand up above the surface, whereas channels are usually depressions. This is because the channels were filled with harder material – possibly lava – and over time the softer rocks surrounding these branching channels has been eroded, leaving an inverted imprint of this ancient river system.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) onboard, Thursday, July 7, 2016 , Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time), Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
This image shows an area close to the landing ellipse for NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which is expected to land within Jezero crater on 18 February 2021. Jezero crater was once the site of a lake, and the landing site is centred on an ancient river delta near the rim of the crater. Although the actual landing ellipse is just outside of this image, it was taken as part of an imaging campaign to study the rover's future neighbourhood, in preparation for its arrival.
The image was taken by the CaSSIS camera on the ESA-Roscosmos Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter on 30 April 2020. The image measures about 3 x 15 km.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
There is never a dull day for participants of the CAVES campaign, ESA’s field training adventure that hones the communication, problem solving and teamwork skills an international crew will need to explore the tough, uncharted terrain of the Moon and Mars.
This week six astronauts turned ‘cavenauts’ from five space agencies headed underground in Slovenia, where they are currently living and working for the week. To keep the element of exploration, astronauts themselves do not know the exact location.
The goal is to run scientific experiments while managing the psychological toll of being in an extreme environment with a multinational crew.
Following a week’s training above ground, including lectures from experts and practical exercises, the team is now underground searching for signs of life that have adapted to the extreme conditions in the caves.
One of the team’s main scientific objectives is to follow the water, a vital resource on- and off- our planet.
Caves are usually formed by running water and ESA picked a cave where rivers flow underground for this training expedition. For the first time, the team will be on the lookout for microplastics. They will also test water chemistry and learn to find and interpret waterways in a cave system.
Trainees are also sampling and analysing microbes that have managed to survive in such inhospitable conditions. Geochemistry, meteorology and other environmental studies are on the list. Read more about the science happening beneath the surface.
If it sounds like a lot to ask of astronauts in a two-week period, fear not. The cavenauts are well prepared and supported.
The astronauts are also using an upgraded version of the Electronic Field Book. This all-in-one, easy-to-use application will allow them to deliver science and video logs while checking procedures and cue cards on a tablet.
Above ground, mission control will track their progress with a 3D map generated on the app as they explore the cave. Scientists can locate the astronauts’ scientific observations paired with pictures, and send their comments back to the cave.
The six cavenauts of this edition of CAVES are ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst, NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Jeanette Epps, Roscosmos’ cosmonaut Nikolai Chub, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk and JAXA’s Takuya Onishi. Chub and Gerst are serving as co-commanders of the expedition.
Credits: ESA–A. Romeo
At 11:12 GMT (13:12 CEST), 6 June 2018, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was launched into space alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch went as planned as the 50-m tall Soyuz rocket propelled the astronauts to their cruising speed of around 28 800 km/h. Within 10 minutes of rising from the pad, the trio travelled over 1640 km and gained 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, their spacecraft accelerated 50 km/h on average.
The spacecraft is an improved model from the last time Alexander was launched into space in 2014 with many technological upgrades to make the spacecraft lighter and more modern. For example, halogen lights have been replaced with LEDs, and newer and larger solar panels increase power generation.
Over the next two days, while circling Earth 34 times, the trio will catch up with the International Space Station where they will spend the next six months. The journey is relatively smooth and quiet after the rigours of launch. With no Internet or satellite phones, the crew relies on radio to communicate at set intervals with ground control.
The German astronaut is a returning visitor to the International Space Station, the first of ESA’s 2009 class of astronauts to be sent into space for a second time. During the second part of his mission Alexander will take over as commander of the International Space Station, only the second time an ESA astronaut will take on this role so far.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The Soyuz MS-22 rocket is launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in March 2023. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
At 11:12 GMT (13:12 CEST), 6 June 2018, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was launched into space alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch went as planned as the 50-m tall Soyuz rocket propelled the astronauts to their cruising speed of around 28 800 km/h. Within 10 minutes of rising from the pad, the trio travelled over 1640 km and gained 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, their spacecraft accelerated 50 km/h on average.
The spacecraft is an improved model from the last time Alexander was launched into space in 2014 with many technological upgrades to make the spacecraft lighter and more modern. For example, halogen lights have been replaced with LEDs, and newer and larger solar panels increase power generation.
Over the next two days, while circling Earth 34 times, the trio will catch up with the International Space Station where they will spend the next six months. The journey is relatively smooth and quiet after the rigours of launch. With no Internet or satellite phones, the crew relies on radio to communicate at set intervals with ground control.
The German astronaut is a returning visitor to the International Space Station, the first of ESA’s 2009 class of astronauts to be sent into space for a second time. During the second part of his mission Alexander will take over as commander of the International Space Station, only the second time an ESA astronaut will take on this role so far.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
Many craters in the polar regions of Mars hold permanent ice deposits year-round.
In this image, taken by the CaSSIS camera onboard ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, the south-eastern wall of a 35 km-wide crater is seen. The image captures its permanent deposits of water ice, which survive the summer months due to the low average sunlight at high latitudes.
The image is centred at 192.99ºE/70.4ºN. It was taken on 29 October 2019. The scale is indicated on the image.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
A spectacular double crater dominates this scene on Mars, pictured by the CaSSIS camera on the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on 7 June 2021.
The crater duo is located in an otherwise smooth plain of Arcadia Planitia [39.1°N/174.8°E].
Double craters like these are formed when two meteorites impact the surface simultaneously and in very close proximity. The two impactors would have originated from the same object that broke apart when it entered the martian atmosphere. The two craters are of similar size, which means that the two projectiles were approximately the same size as well.
During the impact, the interaction of the two shockwaves created an ejecta blanket with a butterfly shape. The remarkable linear streaks in the ejecta material radiates around the double crater, and are an indicator of the good level of preservation of this feature.
To the north are large isolated hills that likely predate the formation of the double crater.
TGO arrived at Mars in 2016 and began its full science mission in 2018. The spacecraft is not only returning spectacular images, but also providing the best ever inventory of the planet’s atmospheric gases, and mapping the planet’s surface for water-rich locations. It will also provide data relay services for the second ExoMars mission comprising the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok platform, when it arrives on Mars in 2023.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The Soyuz MS-17 rocket is launched with Expedition 64 Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov, and Rubins launched at 1:45 a.m. EDT to begin a six-month mission onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
Like a sprinkle of powdered sugar on a rich red velvet cake, this scene from the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captures the contrasting colours of bright white water-ice against the rusty red martian soil.
This delightful image was taken 5 July 2021 and soaks in the view of a 4 km-wide crater in Mars’ north polar region of Vastitas Borealis, centred at 70.6 °N/230.3°E.
The crater is partially filled with water ice, which is also particularly predominant on its north-facing slopes that receive fewer hours of sunlight on average throughout the year.
The dark material clearly visible on the crater rim – giving it a somewhat scorched appearance – likely consists of volcanic materials such as basalt.
Most of the surrounding terrain is ice free, but has been shaped by ongoing aeolian processes. The streaks at the bottom right of the image are formed by winds that have removed the brighter iron oxide dust from the surface, exposing a slightly darker underlying substrate.
TGO arrived at Mars in 2016 and began its full science mission in 2018. The spacecraft is not only returning spectacular images, but also providing the best ever inventory of the planet’s atmospheric gases, and mapping the planet’s surface for water-rich locations. It will also provide data relay services for the second ExoMars mission comprising the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok platform, when it arrives on Mars in 2023.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
At 11:12 GMT (13:12 CEST), 6 June 2018, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was launched into space alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch went as planned as the 50-m tall Soyuz rocket propelled the astronauts to their cruising speed of around 28 800 km/h. Within 10 minutes of rising from the pad, the trio travelled over 1640 km and gained 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, their spacecraft accelerated 50 km/h on average.
The spacecraft is an improved model from the last time Alexander was launched into space in 2014 with many technological upgrades to make the spacecraft lighter and more modern. For example, halogen lights have been replaced with LEDs, and newer and larger solar panels increase power generation.
Over the next two days, while circling Earth 34 times, the trio will catch up with the International Space Station where they will spend the next six months. The journey is relatively smooth and quiet after the rigours of launch. With no Internet or satellite phones, the crew relies on radio to communicate at set intervals with ground control.
The German astronaut is a returning visitor to the International Space Station, the first of ESA’s 2009 class of astronauts to be sent into space for a second time. During the second part of his mission Alexander will take over as commander of the International Space Station, only the second time an ESA astronaut will take on this role so far.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is assembled Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is scheduled for March 19 and will send Expedition 47 Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos to the International Space Station for a five and a half month stay. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)
The Soyuz TMA-19M rocket is launched with Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA, and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency), Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Malenchenko, Kopra, and Peake will spend the next six-months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is seen here sitting on top of the Kazachok surface science platform in stowed configuration, rather similar to how it will journey to Mars in 2022.
The duo were mated in a dedicated clean room at Thales Alenia Space (TAS), Cannes, together forming the so-called ‘landing module’. The latest round of tests include electrical, power and data transfer checks between the two elements.
The landing module will later be integrated inside the descent module for mass balancing checks, together with the carrier module that will transport the mission to Mars.
This is not the last time the two flight models will be mated. After completion of the tests in Cannes, the rover will return to the TAS cleanrooms in Turin, Italy, for further functional testing, before being shipped to the launch site in Baikonur.
In this image, the back right solar panel of the landing platform is seen partially deployed. The front of the rover is seen, with its iconic drill stowed in horizontal position. A first in Mars exploration, the drill will extract samples down to a maximum of two metres, where ancient biomarkers may still be preserved from the harsh radiation on the surface, and deliver them to the rover’s sophisticated laboratory for analysis.
The mission is targeting a September 2022 launch window, landing on Mars in June 2023. Its goal is to determine the geological history of the landing site at Oxia Planum, once thought to host an ancient ocean, and to determine if life could ever have existed on Mars.
The ExoMars programme is a joint endeavour between ESA and the Russian State Space Corporation, Roscosmos.
The integration activities at Cannes were carried out by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space teams.
Credits: Thales Alenia Space
The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) onboard, Thursday, July 7, 2016 , Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time), Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi will spend approximately four months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
RA-64045 (cn 1450742864045) "Sergey Korolev"
www.airliners.net/photo/Roscosmos/Tupolev-Tu-204-300/8072...
Gale Crater, home of NASA's Curiosity Rover, is approximately 150 km in diameter and located near the boundary between the southern highlands and northern lowlands of Mars. The crater contains a massive central mound that contains a kilometres-thick layered sequence of sedimentary rocks that provide evidence for a changing climate over the planet’s history. Studies indicate that it transitioned from wetter conditions in which water-bearing minerals formed, to the drier climate conditions observed today.
The exposed layers seen in this image, taken by the CaSSIS camera onboard the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, are located on the west side of the Gale crater central mound. This section belongs to the so-called ‘Lower Formation’, which is characterised by abundant signatures of the presence of water as observed by the CRISM imaging spectrometer onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These transition from sulphate-bearing, to clay-sulphate mixtures, to sulphate-bearing rocks in the highest parts of the formation. The transitions are reflected here in the changing colours observed by CaSSIS.
The image is centred at 5.2ºS/137.2ºE and was taken on 20 July 2019. North is up.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Rollout to the launch pad of the Soyuz rocket with the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft inside, 4 June 2018. The spacecraft will launch ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst into space alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 6 June.
The 50-m tall Soyuz rocket will propell the astronauts to their cruising speed of around 28 800 km/h. Within 10 minutes of rising from the pad, the trio travelled over 1640 km and gained 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, their spacecraft accelerated 50 km/h on average.
The rocket is rolled to the launch pad on a train, the astronauts are not allowed to see this part of the launch preparation – it is considered bad luck.
This will be Alexander’s second spaceflight, called Horizons. He will also be the second ESA astronaut to take over command of the International Space Station. The Horizons science programme is packed with European research: over 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people on Earth as well as prepare for future space exploration.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is rolled out to the launch pad by train in the early hours of Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for March 19 and will carry Expedition 47 Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 (Kazakh time). Kelly and Kornienko completed an International Space Station record year-long mission to collect valuable data on the effect of long duration weightlessness on the human body that will be used to formulate a human mission to Mars. Volkov returned after spending six months on the station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
While the world eagerly awaits the launch of a spacecraft to the Moon, a robot quietly reaches yet another milestone in space. The newest robotic arm outside the International Space Station woke up, stretched and moved a payload effortlessly from one side to the other of the Nauka science module.
The European Robotic Arm (ERA) successfully completed the first transfer following commands from cosmonauts inside the Space Station last week. Teams in Moscow, Russia and at ESA’s control room in the Netherlands monitored the moves, where this image was taken by the European team on console on 24 August.
This first motion involved unleashing the payload – a single pin latch and its adapter for the cosmonaut support tool – from Nauka, moving it to the other side of the module and then installing it back to the original position.
This time the payload was just the size of a small suitcase, but ERA’s 11 m structure can manoeuvre up to eight-tonne payloads.
The whole operation took around six hours, after which the European Robotic Arm went into hibernation mode.
The test proved what the European Robotic Arm was built for: to move and latch payloads and equipment outside the Russian segment of the Space Station with an accuracy of 5 mm, saving time and work for the crew.
ERA is now going to continue being outfitted during the next spacewalk on Friday, 2 September, from 15:20 CEST (14:20 BST). Roscosmos astronauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will try to finish some tasks they couldn’t complete during the last sortie on 17 August, when Oleg’s spacesuit had an unexpected battery power fluctuation and had to end the spacewalk earlier than planned.
Oleg and Denis will relocate the arm’s external control panel, remove some restraints near the two end effectors or “hands” of the arm, and test a rigidising mechanism that will facilitate the grasping of payloads.
Further tests will push the arm’s capabilities to the limit in mid-September with what space engineers call a “performance mission”. Operations will involve evaluating the performance of the brakes, joint motion and ERA’s force control. Teams on ground will also assess the quality of the images captured by the cameras on its elbows for guiding operations even during the orbital night.
Owned by Roscosmos, this is the first robot capable of ‘walking’ around the Russian parts of the orbital complex.
ERA is 100% made-in-Europe. A consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands designed and assembled it for ESA. Its journey from Europe to space is a tale of precision, teamwork and perseverance.
Learn more about the European Robotic Arm in this brochure.
Credits: ESA
This false colour image of Moni crater shows spectacular colour contrasts, which are representative of compositional differences and are visible thanks to CaSSIS's colour filters, the camera on board the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Along the rim of the crater, dark blue basaltic sand caps the lighter, cyan bedrock exposures (possibly low-calcium pyroxene). The yellowish material present in and around the crater is the characteristic martian iron oxide dust, which in true colour would look slightly reddish. On the walls of the crater small gullies that trap basaltic sand can be seen.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter showing the region where the ancient Uzboi Vallis enters Holden crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. The valley begins on the northern rim of the Argyre basin and was formed by running water. The fluvial deposits are clearly visible in the impact cratered terrain.
The image was taken by the orbiter’s Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS on 31 May 2018 and captures an approximately 22.7 x 6.6 km segment centred at 26.8ºS/34.8ºW. North is to the bottom left in this orientation.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
nhq201609070008 (09/07/2016) --- Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive at the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft shortly after it landed with Expedition 48 crew members NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016(Kazakh time). Williams, Ovchinin, and Skripochka are returning after 172 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 47 and 48 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A Russian Search and Rescue MI-8 helicopter crew member waits to depart the Karaganda Airport ahead of the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft landing with Expedition 47 crew members Tim Kopra of NASA, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency, and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos Saturday, June 18, 2016, Kazakhstan. Kopra, Peake, and Malenchenko are returning after six months in space where they served as members of the Expedition 46 and 47 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A full-size model of the ExoMars entry, descent and landing module, Schiaparelli, with its parachute deployed was revealed on ESA’s open day last Sunday in the Netherlands.
Weighing 600 kg, Schiaparelli is part of the joint ESA–Roscosmos ExoMars mission that will arrive at the Red Planet on 19 October. It will demonstrate Europe’s techonology for a controlled landing on Mars, including the 12 m-diameter parachute.
The landing will take about six minutes, with the canopy deploying at a speed of 1700 km/h. In less than two minutes the parachute will slow the lander down to 240 km/h before being jettisoned at around 1 km above the surface.
Thrusters will then begin firing to control the probe’s speed, with the surface contact cushioned by a crushable structure on the underside of the module.
The module is housed inside the descent capsule in this picture – the rear cover and heatshield are discarded during descent.
Although it is on display, the ExoMars teams need to access the engineering model for diagnostics or checks because it is a replica of the module flying to Mars.
More about ExoMars: ExoMars and exploration.esa.int
More about the Erasmus space exhibition centre.
Credit: ESA/S. Muihead
This captivating image was taken in the north polar region of Mars by the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter’s CaSSIS camera.
Dunes come in various characteristic shapes on Mars just as on Earth, providing clues about the prevailing wind direction. Monitoring them over time also gives us a natural laboratory to study how dunes evolve, and how sediments in general are transported around the planet.
During winter in the polar regions, a thin layer of carbon dioxide ice covers the surface and then sublimates – turns directly from ice into vapour – with the first light of spring. In the dune fields, this springtime defrosting occurs from the bottom up, trapping gas between the ice and the sand. As the ice cracks, this gas is released violently and carries sand with it, forming the dark patches and streaks observed in this CaSSIS image.
The image also captures ‘barchan’ dunes – the crescent or U-shaped dunes seen in the right of the image – as they join and merge into barchanoid ridges. The curved tips of the barchan dunes point downwind. The transition from barchan to barchanoid dunes tells us that secondary winds also play a role in shaping the dune field.
The image is centred at 74.46ºN/348.3ºE. The image was taken on 25 May 2019.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The Soyuz MS-18 rocket is launched with Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy, Friday, April 9, 2021, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Roscosmos leadership is seen speaking with Expedition 47 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA, left, Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, center, and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, right, following Russian Sokol suit pressure checks in preparation for their launch onboard the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft, Saturday, March19, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send Ovchinin, Williams, and Skripochka on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)
nhq201610190020 (10/19/2016) --- The Soyuz MS-02 rocket is launched with Expedition 49 Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ryzhikov, Kimbrough, and Borisenko will spend the next four months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The Rosalind Franklin rover of the joint ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars mission completed a series of environmental tests at the end of 2019 at Airbus, Toulouse, France. This included final thermal and vacuum tests where the Rover is heated and cooled to simulate the temperatures of its journey through space and on the surface of Mars. For example, Rosalind Franklin can expect temperatures dropping to –120°C outside, and –50 °C inside the rover once on Mars. It must also be able to operate in less than one hundredth of Earth’s atmospheric pressure – and in a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere.
Last year the ‘structural and thermal model’ of the rover successfully completed a rigorous environmental test campaign; the latest round of tests subjected the real flight-model to the simulated space environment.
Now the focus moves to final checks on the rover systems. This includes checking the alignment of instruments working together, such as the imaging systems, and a final functional test of the integrated system after the environmental campaign. Once these verifications on the rover are completed, a functional check of the interfaces with the surface platform and descent module that will deliver it safely to the surface of Mars will be performed at Thales Alenia Space, Cannes, France.
The primary goal of the mission is to determine if there is or there has ever been life on Mars, and to better understand the history of water on the planet. The rover will seek out interesting geological locations to examine with its scientific tools and to drill to retrieve underground samples, on a quest to tackle these questions.
The mission is foreseen for launch in the launch window 26 July–11 August 2020 on a Russian Proton-M rocket with a Breeze-M upper stage from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, arriving at Mars 19 March 2021.
Credits: Airbus
The Soyuz TMA-19M escape tower is seen after being jettisoned during the launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 in Kazakhstan. Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA, and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) will spend the next six-months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, (Kazakh time) (Nov 17 Eastern time). Whitson, Novitskiy, and Pesquet will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 48 crew members NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016(Kazakh time). Williams, Ovchinin, and Skripochka are returning after 172 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 47 and 48 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
As Mars exploration prepares for a rebirth, a European rover tunes up its gear for the challenges ahead.
Tomorrow, 23 July, ESA and dozens of industrial partners will assess the readiness of the ExoMars robotic explorer, named Rosalind Franklin, for a trip to the Red Planet in 2022. The European rover will drill down to two metres into the martian surface to sample the soil, analyse its composition and search for evidence of life buried underground.
The rover successfully proved that it is fit to endure the martian conditions during the environmental test campaign earlier this year in Toulouse, France. This laboratory on wheels withstood temperatures as low as –120°C and less than one hundredth of Earth’s atmospheric pressure to simulate the extremes of its journey through space and on the surface of Mars.
By the end of this week a more robust set of solar panels will begin its trip to reunite with the rover after some cracks were detected during those environmental tests. New fasteners are in place and will be on their way from the Airbus facilities in Stevenage, in the UK, to Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, where the rover awaits power up at the beginning of August.
The disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic have added new obstacles for industry across Europe on the road to Mars. Parachute and interface tests are expected to resume in October.
New missions to Mars launch from a broad range of nations – while the United Arab Emirates’ historic first mission to Mars lifted off from Japan last Sunday, China is preparing to launch tomorrow its first rover to Mars, known as Tianwen-1. NASA’s Mars 2020 mission is set to take off with the Perseverance rover onboard next week, on July 30.
These missions focus on the search for evidence of life on the Red Planet and a better understanding of how Earth and Mars evolved so differently.
“We hope that ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover will help write a new page in Mars exploration by allowing us to study organic molecules on the spot,” says Jorge Vago, ESA’s ExoMars project scientist.
Dr Rosalind Franklin, the prominent scientist behind the discovery of the structure of DNA, one of life’s most important molecules, would have been 100 years old on 25 July this year. Her niece, also named Rosalind Franklin in her memory, points out that the X-ray diffraction expert “never conceived science as a race of competitors.”
After a visit to ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands last year, Rosalind believes that her aunt would have loved the ExoMars team spirit. “The work of ESA engineers on the rover struck me – they really do it for the results, not for themselves. This what Rosalind Franklin was all about: commitment and dedication to science,” said Rosalind from her home in California, US.
A series of talks and events is taking place around the globe this week to celebrate the centenary of this “woman of integrity who went after scientific discovery for the betterment of humankind”, as her niece describes her. The legacy of the scientist lives on today, and the ExoMars rover will help leave her symbolic footprint on Mars in 2023.
The ExoMars rover is part of the ExoMars programme, a joint endeavour between ESA and the Russian State Space Corporation, Roscosmos.
Credits: Airbus
Human spaceflight image of the week:
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli (left) along with Expedition 52 crewmates Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos (centre) and Randy Bresnik of NASA (right) took to Red Square in Moscow yesterday to perform ceremonies ahead of their 28 July launch to the International Space Station.
The crew paid tribute to Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, and four other cosmonauts by placing a carnation at each memorial along the Kremlin Wall in Red Square. Other rituals include special signings, haircuts and some gardening.
Many of these traditions originate with Gagarin himself. A week before his launch, he planted a tree outside Baikonur Cosmodrome, and then got a haircut two days before his flight.
Since then, all crews launched aboard a Russian launch vehicle do as Yuri did. Some traditions were added later, such as signing the Visitor’s Book at Yuri’s office in Star City, which has been preserved just as he left it.
Like all rituals and traditions, they serve as a source of calm and comfort ahead of a taxing journey and cement the bond between fellow space explorers.
Expedition 52 marks the last mission for Paolo Nespoli to the International Space Station. He was last on the Station in 2010 for Europe’s third six-month mission.
His mission is called Vita, which stands for Vitality, Innovation, Technology and Ability. The name was chosen by Italy’s ASI space agency, which is providing the mission through a barter agreement with NASA.
In Italian, “vita” means “life”, reflecting the experiments that Paolo will run and the philosophical notion of living in outer space – one of the most inhospitable places for humans.
Credit: NASA (Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 75 Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, top, NASA astronaut Anil Menon, middle, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, bottom, wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send the trio on a mission to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 (Kazakh time). Kelly and Kornienko completed an International Space Station record year-long mission to collect valuable data on the effect of long duration weightlessness on the human body that will be used to formulate a human mission to Mars. Volkov returned after spending six months on the station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The Soyuz MS-22 rocket is launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in March 2023. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
This unnamed crater on Mars is filled with material of a ‘wrinkled’ appearance. This texture usually implies that material once flowed here, and likely comprised a mixing of rocks, ice or frost, and other soil deposits. The wrinkles seem to have formed in parallel layers which is consistent with material settling onto the crater floor, perhaps in different episodes. Volatiles such as water ice could still be mixed with the rocky sediments to create the observed texture.
The image was captured by the CaSSIS camera onboard the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on 3 July 2019. The image is centred at 35ºN/169.5ºE. North is up.
Credits: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft is seen on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome after it was blessed by an Orthodox priest on Thursday, March 17, 2016 in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for March 19 Baikonur time and will carry Expedition 47 Soyuz Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
nhq201512150014 (12/15/2015) --- The Soyuz TMA-19M rocket is launched with Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA, and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency), Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Malenchenko, Kopra, and Peake will spend the next six-months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)