[X] My Assistant

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMA96ULWFE_index_0.html

Relating to Mars Express:

"At the same time, ESA’s Mars Express mission is continuing its investigations of Mars, painting a new picture of the 'red planet'. This includes the first ever probing below the surface of Mars, new geological clues with implications for the climate, newly-discovered surface and atmospheric features and, above all, traces of the presence of water on this world."

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

This proposal includes a relay orbiter and 4 netlander modules (stationary seismic\atmospheric probes with 0.5-1 year mission durations). I've seen no mention of the Netlanders in the current ESA announcements, do we know for certain that they have been canned?

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/chan...ews/12055p2.xml :

"The baseline ExoMars mission calls for a lander and rover only, to be orbited by a Soyuz 2b from Kourou. But if funding allows, an orbiter will be added, and the launch switched to an Ariane 5."

The plan the ESA developed early this year called for such a cut-rate version of the lander (I imagine they'll rely on the US orbiters for a lot of their com relay). What I have not seen yet is any indication that they're considering switching to Skycrane. Keep in mind that ExoMars is supposed to be distinctly smaller than MSL, and so they might be able to make airbags work -- although both MERs were so seriously limited in their possible landing sites because of predicted high winds, and Spirit came so close to buying the farm anyway, that I imagine they're having second thoughts.

I wouldn't mind seeing Colin Pillinger's organics package on ExoMars -- he may have been a disastrously poor judge of lander design, but his central instrument package looks well-designed to me. (By the way, the poor bastard has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.)