Postponed until 2020 the second Russian-European mission ExoMars.

[Wizard ;x]

Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, today announced the postponement until 2020 of the second mission ExoMars, a joint project with the European Space Agency (ESA) to look for evidence of life on Mars.

The second mission of the joint project, originally scheduled for 2018, was postponed due to delays in the European space industry and Russian, as well as in the mutual supplies computer scientists.

The Russian space agency, which underlined that it is a joint decision with the ESA, indicated that under these conditions the deferral is "the optimal solution" to carry out the project.

The Russian mission-european ExoMars 2016 took off last 14 march from the cosmodrome Russian cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) and is expected to arrive at Mars in October when the space capsule is divided into two parts.

The satellite Trace Gas Orbiter (OGTT) will be devoted to studying the gases from the martian atmosphere, while the module Schiaparelli will sit on the surface of this planet to validate the technology of landing for the second phase of the program, ExoMars 2020.

At that stage, will be sent to Mars a vehicle with capacity to dig into the soil to a depth previously unpublished up to two meters.