What’s the next step for Mars exploration?

Following yesterday’s announcement linking dark streaks on the surface of Mars with liquid water, scientists have spoken about the future of Mars exploration. There will be a number of missions – led by NASA and ESA – launching in the next five years.

NASA’s InSight lander, launching next year, will provide information about the interior of Mars by using a seismometer and a heat flow experiment. It will aim to collect evidence about the formation and interior structure of the red planet.

ESA and Russia are launching a program called ExoMars scheduled to leave Earth in January 2016. The mission will aim to search for evidence of methane and other trace atmospheric gases that could be signatures of active biological or geological processes and to test key technologies in preparation for ESA's contribution to subsequent missions to Mars.

As part of the same programme, ExoMars will deliver a European rover and a Russian platform to the surface of Mars in 2018. In partnership with NASA it will drill at depth bringing up material in order to analyse the soil and look for organic matter.

Following Curiosity’s success, NASA plans to send a new robotic rover in 2020. The proposed rover mission – part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program – is designed to search for potential organic matter as well as gather information and demonstrate technologies that address the challenges of future human expeditions. It will collect samples and return them back to Earth so that scientists can analyse them for any signs of ancient conditions for life on Mars.

“That’s just the beginning, that’s just in the next five years, but beyond that we have lots of plans as part the journey to Mars that include developing a space launch system, a big rocket, that will be able to get pilots to Mars and perhaps a round trip mission,” said NASA’s Science Missions Directorate John Grunsfeld.

http://www.google.co.uk/mars/#lat=-34.883715&lon=-756.781876&zoom=6