ExoMars 2020 surface platform
| Names | ExoMars 2018 Surface Platform |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Mars lander and rover |
| Operator | ESA & Roscosmos |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | Planned: ≥ 1 Earth year |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Lavochkin |
| Launch mass | Lander: 827.9 kg (1,825 lb) Rover: 310 kg (680 lb) |
| Payload mass | Lander: 45 kg (99 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | July 2020 |
| Rocket | Proton-M/Briz-M |
| Mars lander | |
| Landing date | ≈April 2021 |
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ExoMars programme
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The ExoMars 2020 surface platform is a planned robotic Mars lander, part of the ExoMars 2020 mission by the European Space Agency and the Roscosmos State Corporation.
The plan calls for a Russian launch vehicle to deliver the Russian-built surface platform as well as the ExoMars rover to Mars' surface. Once safely landed, the platform will deploy the rover and will start a one Earth-year mission to investigate the surface environment at the landing site.
The spacecraft was scheduled to launch in 2018 and land on Mars in early 2019, but due to delays in European and Russian industrial activities and deliveries of the scientific payload, it was moved to the launch window in July 2020.
The science payload mass is about 45 kg and consists of:
Russia is evaluating the option of using a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to power the science instruments, and a radioisotope heater unit (RHU) to provide thermal control on the frozen Martian surface.
After a review by an ESA-appointed panel, a short list of four sites was formally recommended in October 2014 for further detailed analysis:
On 21 October 2015, Oxia Planum was chosen as the preferred landing site for the ExoMars rover assuming a 2018 launch.
Since the launch was postponed to 2020, Aram Dorsum and Mawrth Vallis will also be considered. ESA convened further workshops to re-evaluate the three remaining options and in March 2017 selected two sites to study in detail:
The final selection is scheduled to occur approximately a year before launch.
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Wikipedia