ExoMars

The European and Russian space agencies have launched the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (ExoMars) satellite from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to find the source of methane gas in Mars’s atmosphere.

The spacecraft will explore whether the methane found in the atmosphere is coming from alien organisms or being released by microbes.

Around ten hours after lift-off, the Proton carrier rocket will place the satellite on its right path to depart to Mars.

The process includes a series of engine burns by the Proton’s upper-stage to accumulate the speed required to break free of Earth’s gravity, reports BBC.

Following the launch, the mission will circle Mars and assess tiny levels of atmospheric gases, in which the scientists involved in the mission expect to find the natural waste products of microbial Martians.

With the mission, scientists mainly expect to solve the mystery of methane found in Mars, because the gas is profusely produced by life on Earth and its presence on the red planet could come from life on, or under, the surface.

However, methane is also produced by chemical reactions in rocks, therefore scientists are yet to be sure of its source, reports the Guardian.

"Maybe we can find out if there’s life extant on the red planet."

Just before the launch, European Space Agency (ESA) senior science adviser Mark McCaughrean said: "Maybe we can find out if there’s life extant on the red planet."

The Thales Alenia Space-built spacecraft ExoMars is equipped with an orbiting module, called Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), and a descent module, called Entry descent landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) or Schiaparelli module, which is expected to leave Earth in 2018.

However, the launch may be delayed because of funding and scheduling problems.


Image: ExoMars lifted off on a Proton rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo: courtesy of ESA.