What makes ExoMars so special with respect to other past, current and even future missions to Mars?
ExoMars will carry the most complete suite of instruments dedicated to organic and mineralogical studies ever planned for a Mars mission. With its powerful rover and drill, ExoMars will also be the first mission combining mobility and access to subsurface locations where organic molecules may be well-preserved; thus allowing, for the first time, to investigate Mars’s third dimension: depth. This alone is a guarantee that ExoMars will break new scientific ground. What are the major technological challenges the ExoMars mission has to overcome to achieve its objectives? The first and most important challenge is to land safely on Mars. To achieve this, ESA is developing a novel landing technology based on a double parachute system, liquid throttled engines and a new type of airbag design. Other key milestones will be the successful deployment of the rover onto the martian surface, and the utilisation of the subsurface drill and the sample preparation and distribution system (SPDS) in combi
