An Ambitious Martian Mission Struggles To Get Off The Ground

As far back as 2005, the European Space Agency has been looking forward to launching its ExoMars program, which is designed to provide the best chance yet for finding signs of possible life on the red planet.

But along the way, there have been many roadblocks in the way. Despite the disappointments and delays, the team behind this ambitious mission is committed to keep on pressing forward.

What’s gone wrong so far

ExoMars is slated to be Europe’s first-ever Martian rover, and it was most recently set to blast off last year. Prior to that date, however, a laundry list of problems arose that made the entire ordeal resemble a comedy of errors.

Of course, physicist Jorge Vago and the rest of the team didn’t find any of it particularly funny.

Thus far, troublesome delays have been caused by:

• Budgetary concerns
• Technical problems
• COVID-19 shutdowns
• The war in Ukraine

Since Russia leases the site from which ExoMars was supposed to lift off, and the ESA cut ties with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, last year’s planned launch had to be scrapped.

As Vago recalled: “They told us we had to call the whole thing off. We were all grieving.”

Plans for the future

At one point, the crew contemplated calling off the entire mission. In fact, one option involved simply donating the rover to a museum.

Since other Russian-made components would be used in the launch, there was a clear need for tons of extra cash — and then European research ministers stepped in late last year.

With a promise to provide 360 million euros, the ESA believes ExoMars will be able to launch in 2028.

State-of-the-art instruments will be on board to hopefully let us know if there is (or ever has been) life on Mars.

Chris Agee May 9th, 2023

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