Europe
and Russia have launched a spacecraft in a joint mission to sniff out signs of
life on Mars and bring humans a step closer to flying to the red planet
themselves.

The craft, part of the ExoMars
program, blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a
Proton rocket, starting a seven-month journey through space.

It
carries an atmospheric probe that is to study trace gases such as methane — a
chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life – that previous Mars missions
have detected in the planet’s atmosphere.

“Why
are we so interested in Mars? We are trying to understand how life originated
in our solar system,” Pascale Ehrenfreund, chair of German space agency
DLR’s executive board, said at a launch event held by the European Space
Agency.

Scientists
believe the methane could stem from micro-organisms, called methanogenes, that
either became extinct millions of years ago and left gas frozen below the
planet’s surface, or that some methane-producing organisms still survive.

Another
explanation for the methane in Mars’s atmosphere could be that it is produced
by geological phenomena, such as the oxidation of iron.

The
spacecraft will deploy a lander that will test technologies needed for a rover
due to follow in 2018, one step in overcoming the practical and technological
challenges facing possible future human flights to Mars.

“I’m
sure in 20 years or 30 years the moment will come when humans will go to the
planet,” Thomas Reiter, director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic
Exploration at the European agency, said.

EARLY LIFE?

The
second part of the ExoMars mission in 2018 will deliver a European rover to the
surface of Mars. It will be the first with the ability to both move across the
planet’s surface and drill into the ground to collect and analyse samples.

“If
there was early life it could have found refuge in the sub-surface, and the
methane could be connected to that,” ExoMars project scientist Jorge Vago
said.

Landing
on Mars is a notoriously difficult task that has bedevilled nearly all of
Russia’s previous efforts and has given United States agency NASA trouble as
well. The United States currently has two operational rovers on Mars, Curiosity
and Opportunity.

The cost
of the ExoMars mission to the European Space Agency, including the second part
due in 2018, is expected to be about $1.9 billion. Russia’s contribution comes
on top of that.

–  Reuters