[meteorite-list] Denmark enroute for the red planet

From: Lars Pedersen <lars.b_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:33 2004
Message-ID: <3EDCF21F.000006.01436_at_star>

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 http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMIKNS1VED_index_0.html=0D
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Mars Express en route for the Red Planet=0D
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Mars Express was successfully launched from Baikonur at 17:45 GMT=0D
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2 June 2003=0D
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ESA PR 36-2003. The European Mars Express space probe has been placed
successfully in a trajectory that will take it beyond the terrestrial
environment and on the way to Mars =96 getting there in late December.=0D
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This first European Space Agency probe to head for another planet will en=
ter
an orbit around Mars, from where it will perform detailed studies of the
planet=92s surface, its subsurface structures and its atmosphere. It will=
 also
deploy Beagle 2, a small autonomous station which will land on the planet=
,
studying its surface and looking for possible signs of life, past or pres=
ent
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The probe, weighing in at 1 120 kg, was built on ESA=92s behalf by a Euro=
pean
team led by Astrium. It set out on its journey to Mars aboard a Soyuz-Fre=
gat
launcher, under Starsem operational management. The launcher lifted off f=
rom
Ba=EFkonur in Kazakhstan on 2 June at 23.45 local time (17:45 GMT). An in=
terim
orbit around the Earth was reached following a first firing of the Fregat
upper stage. One hour and thirty-two minutes later the probe was injected
into its interplanetary orbit.=0D
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Contact with Mars Express was established by ESOC=0D
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"Europe is on its way to Mars to stake its claim in the most detailed and
complete exploration ever done of the Red Planet. We can be very proud of
this and of the speed with which have achieved this goal", said David
Southwood, ESA's Director of Science witnessing the launch from Baikonur.
Contact with Mars Express has been established by ESOC, ESA=92s satellite
control centre, located in Darmstadt, Germany. =0D
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The probe is pointing correctly towards the Sun and has deployed its sola=
r
panels. All on-board systems are operating faultlessly. Two days from now=
,
the probe will perform a corrective man=9Cuvre that will place it in a
Mars-bound trajectory, while the Fregat stage, trailing behind, will vani=
sh
into space =96 there will be no risk of it crashing into and contaminatin=
g the
Red Planet.=0D
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Mars Express will then travel away from Earth at a speed exceeding 30 km/=
s
(3 km/s in relation to the Earth), on a six-month and 400 million kilomet=
re
journey through the solar system. Once all payload operations have been
checked out, the probe will be largely deactivated. During this period, t=
he
spacecraft will contact Earth only once a day. Mid-journey correction of =
its
trajectory is scheduled for September. =0D
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Beagle 2 lander leaving the Mars Express orbiter=0D
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There in time for Christmas=0D
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Following reactivation of its systems at the end of November, Mars Expres=
s
will get ready to release Beagle 2. The 60 kg capsule containing the tiny
lander does not incorporate its own propulsion and steering system and wi=
ll
be released into a collision trajectory with Mars, on 20 December. It wil=
l
enter the Martian atmosphere on Christmas day, after five days=92 ballist=
ic
flight. =0D
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As it descends, the lander will be protected in the first instance by a
heat-shield; two parachutes will then open to provide further deceleratio=
n.
With its weight down to 30 kg at most, it will land in an equatorial regi=
on
known as Isidis Planitia. Three airbags will soften the final impact. Thi=
s
crucial phase in the mission will last just ten minutes, from entry into =
the
atmosphere to landing. =0D
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Meanwhile, the Mars Express probe proper will have performed a series of
man=9Cuvres through to a capture orbit. At this point its main motor will=
 fire
 providing the deceleration needed to acquire a highly elliptical transit=
ion
orbit. Attaining the final operational orbit will call for four more firi=
ngs
 This 7.5 hour quasi-polar orbit will take the probe to within 250 km of =
the
planet. =0D
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The Beagle 2 lander=0D
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Getting to know Mars =96 inside and out=0D
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Having landed on Mars, Beagle 2 =96 named after HMS Beagle, on which Char=
les
Darwin voyaged round the world, developing his evolutionary theory =96 wi=
ll
deploy its solar panels and the payload adjustable workbench, a set of
instruments (two cameras, a microscope and two spectrometers) mounted on =
the
end of a robot arm. =0D
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It will proceed to explore its new environment, gathering geological and
mineralogical data that should, for the first time, allow rock samples to=
 be
dated with absolute accuracy. Using a grinder and corer, and the =93mole=94=
, a
wire-guided mini-robot able to borrow its way under rocks and dig the gro=
und
to a depth of 2 m, samples will be collected and then examined in the GAP
automated mini-laboratory, equipped with 12 furnaces and a mass spectrome=
ter
 The spectrometer will have the job of detecting possible signs of life a=
nd
dating rock samples. =0D
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The Mars Express orbiter will carry out a detailed investigation of the
planet, pointing its instruments at Mars for between half-an-hour and an
hour per orbit and then, for the remainder of the time, at Earth to relay
the information collected in this way and the data transmitted by Beagle =
2. =0D
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The orbiter=92s seven on-board instruments are expected to provide
considerable information about the structure and evolution of Mars. A ver=
y
high resolution stereo camera, the HRSC, will perform comprehensive mappi=
ng
of the planet at 10 m resolution and will even be capable of photographin=
g
some areas to a precision of barely 2 m. The OMEGA spectrometer will draw=
 up
the first mineralogical map of the planet to 100 m precision. =0D
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Mars Express orbiter=0D
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Only a start to exploration=0D
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This mineralogical study will be taken further by the PFS spectrometer =96
which will also chart the composition of the Martian atmosphere, a
prerequisite for investigation of atmospheric dynamics. The MARSIS radar
instrument, with its 40 m antenna, will sound the surface to a depth of 2=
 km
 exploring its structure and above all searching for pockets of water. =0D
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Another instrument, ASPERA, will be tasked with investigating interaction
between the upper atmosphere and the interplanetary medium. The focus her=
e
will be on determining how and at what rate the solar wind, in the absenc=
e
of a magnetic field capable of deflecting it, scattered the bulk of the
Martian atmosphere into space. Atmospheric investigation will also be
performed by the SPICAM spectrometer and the MaRS experiment, with specia=
l
emphasis on stellar occultation and radio signal propagation phenomena. =0D
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The orbiter mission should last at least one Martian year (687 days), whi=
le
Beagle 2 is expected to operate on the planet=92s surface for 180 days. T=
his
first European mission to Mars incorporates some of the objectives of the
Euro-Russian Mars 96 mission, which came to grief when the Proton launche=
r
failed. And indeed a Russian partner is cooperating on each of the orbite=
r=92s
instruments. Mars Express forms part of an international Mars exploration
programme, featuring also the US probes Mars Surveyor and Mars Odyssey, t=
he
two Mars Exploration Rovers and the Japanese probe Nozomi. Mars Express m=
ay
perhaps, within this partnership, relay data from the NASA rovers while M=
ars
Odyssey may, if required, relay data from Beagle 2. =0D
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The mission=92s scientific goals are of outstanding importance. Mars Expr=
ess
will, it is hoped, supply answers to the many questions raised by earlier
missions =96 questions concerning the planet=92s evolution, the history o=
f its
internal activity, the presence of water below its surface, the possibili=
ty
that Mars may at one time have been covered by oceans and thus have offer=
ed
an environment conducive to the emergence of some form of life, and even =
the
possibility that life may still be present, somewhere in putative
subterranean aquifers. In addition the lander doing direct analysis of th=
e
soil and the environment comprises a truly unique mission. =0D
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Mars Express, drawing heavily on elements of the Rosetta spacecraft await=
ing
to be launched to a comet next year, paves the way for other ESA-led
planetary missions, with Venus Express planned for 2005 and the BepiColom=
bo
mission to Mercury at the end of the decade. It is a precursor too for
continuing Mars mission activity under Aurora, the programme of explorati=
on
of our solar system. =0D
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For further information, please contact:=0D
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ESA Media Relations Service=0D
Tel:+33.(0)1.5369.7155=0D
Fax:+33.(0)1.5369.7690 =0D
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Received on Tue 03 Jun 2003 03:08:15 PM PDT