59th International Astronautical Congress 2008 Paper ID: 2348

SPACE EXPLORATION SYMPOSIUM (A3) Space Exploration Overview (1)

Author: Dr. Simonetta Di Pippo Italian Space Agency (ASI), Austria, [email protected]

Mr. Bruno Gardini European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands, [email protected] Mr. Daniel Sacotte European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands, [email protected] Mr. Dietrich Vennemann European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands, [email protected]

FROM EXOMARS TO MARS SAMPLE RETURN. MARS EXPLORATION IN THE ESA’S AURORA SPACE EXPLORATION PROGRAMME

Abstract The ultimate goal of the European Space Exploration Programme Aurora is the exploration of Mars, initially through robotic and automatic missions in order to eventually prepare an European participation to a human mission to the Red Planet. This philosophy – and the need to biologically characterise the martian environment – lead to select ExoMars as the first robotic mission within the Aurora programme. An enhanced ExoMars is slated for launch in 2013 and plans are being made for the next step of Mars exploration, both by individual Agencies and internationally. It is a shared conviction that the next step to better understand Mars and at the same time improve our operational and engineering experience is a mars sample return mission. Within the International Mars Exploration Working Group an ad hoc study group was set up to define a common architecture for a joint Mars Sample Return mission. In parallel, as part of the proposal for the ESA Council at Ministerial level on November 2008, a series of precursor missions are being studied along with a MSR Preparatory programme. The paper will, through substantive technical and programmatic content, present the most recent status of the above endeavours from an European perspective.

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