magicbastarder
4th February 2004, 06:20 PM
The European Space Agency has embarked on an ambitious space plan that includes sending astronauts to Mars in 2033.
The ultimate goal of sending people to Mars is similar to the initiative outlined by US President George W Bush in January, but ESA's programme, called Aurora, is far more detailed.
Aurora was first approved in principle in 2001, but details of the plan were presented to members of the British space industry on Tuesday in London. ESA's strategy is to take a step-by-step approach to developing the technologies required for a manned Mars mission.
The steps include creating a new vehicle that will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at high speeds by 2007, sending an orbiter and rover to Mars in 2009, and launching a two-stage mission to return samples from Mars in 2011 and 2014.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994642
The ultimate goal of sending people to Mars is similar to the initiative outlined by US President George W Bush in January, but ESA's programme, called Aurora, is far more detailed.
Aurora was first approved in principle in 2001, but details of the plan were presented to members of the British space industry on Tuesday in London. ESA's strategy is to take a step-by-step approach to developing the technologies required for a manned Mars mission.
The steps include creating a new vehicle that will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at high speeds by 2007, sending an orbiter and rover to Mars in 2009, and launching a two-stage mission to return samples from Mars in 2011 and 2014.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994642