ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter Traces Flawless Trajectory to Mars

Summary: After its March 14 launch, ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter traces flawless trajectory to Mars, according to a European Space Agency update March 23.

ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter: SpacePolicyOnline/NASA GSFC Mars Trace Gas Mission presentation (Sept. 10, 2009), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ten days after a perfect launch from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome on Monday, March 14, ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is tracing a flawless trajectory toward reaching its mission destination, Mars, in October, according to an update Wednesday, March 23, by the European Space Agency.

“We had an extremely precise orbital injection thanks to Proton-Breeze and our Russian colleagues, and we are now well on our way to Mars,” notes Michel Denis, flight director for the European Space Agency (ESA). “After the critical first few days in space, TGO is performing flawlessly. Over the next two weeks we will continue to check and commission its systems, including the power, communications, startrackers, and guidance and navigation system.

The problem of an unexpected rise in the temperature of the spacecraft’s main engine is solved now. The problem surfaced some hours after establishment of a communications link on Monday evening. Consultations with engineers at the spacecraft’s prime contractor, Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space, leads to a few degrees’ adjustment of the spacecraft’s spatial orientation. Redirection of the engine nozzle away from a direct facing toward the Sun corrects the main engine’s temperature.

“It’s obvious that the European industry who built ExoMars has done an excellent job,” notes Michel Denis.

The Launch and Early Orbit Phase, considered as one of the most critical timelines in a mission, is checked off as completed as of Thursday evening, March 17.

Liftoff of the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter with Schiaparelli via Russia’s Proton-M rocket occurred on Monday, March 14, 2016, at 9:31 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (10:31 a.m. Central European Time; 5:31 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). After completing four burns, the Breeze-M rocket orbit insertion upper stage released the ExoMars spacecraft at 20:13 GMT (21:13 CET; 4:13 p.m. EDT).

Confirmation of the orbiter spacecraft’s successful release into its seven-month interplanetary path to Mars occurred less than 12 hours (11 hours 58 minutes) after liftoff. The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, southwestern Germany, received the spacecraft’s signals at 21:29 GMT (22:29 CET; 5:29 p.m. EDT) by way of the ESTRACK (European Space Tracking) network’s ground station in Malindi, Kenya.

ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter carries Schiaparelli, the ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) that is named after Italian Martianologist Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli. The orbiter and Schiaparelli are expected to separate on Sunday, Oct. 16, at a distance of 900,000 kilometers (559,234 miles) from Mars. Schiaparelli is slated to land Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Meridiani Planum, two degrees south of the Martian equator, during Mars’ dust season.

The lander houses the meteorological DREAMS (Dust Characterization, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface) package as its surface payload. The DREAMS package comprises a suite of six sensors. DREAMS-H and DREAMS-P measure humidity and pressure, respectively. MarsTem registers near-surface temperatures. Solar Irradiance Sensor (SIS) measures atmospheric transparency.

The suite’s electric field sensor, MicroARES (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor), measures atmospheric electrification. MicroARES will conduct the first-ever measurements of Mars’ electric fields.

The Trace Gas Orbiter functions dually as an atmospheric gas analyzer and as a telecommunication relay. The orbiter is designed to detect and characterize methane and other gases in the Martian atmosphere.

European Space Agency (ESA) partners with Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities in ESA’s 2016 ExoMars Orbiter Mission.

Launched March 16, 2016, ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is on a seven-month journey to Mars: ESA @esa via Twitter March 23, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter: SpacePolicyOnline/NASA GSFC Mars Trace Gas Mission presentation (Sept. 10, 2009), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MarsTraceGasMission-Orbiter.jpg

Launched March 16, 2016, ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is on a seven-month journey to Mars: ESA‏ @esa via Twitter tweet of March 23, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/esa/status/712606581662334976

For further information:

ESA‏ @esa. "Following a spectacular liftoff, @ESA_ExoMars TGO is performing flawlessly en route to Mars." Twitter. March 23, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/esa/status/712606581662334976

“ExoMars on Its Way to Solve the Red Planet’s Mysteries.” ESA > Our Activities > Space Science. March 14, 2016.
Available @ http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/ExoMars_on_its_way_to_solve_the_Red_Planet_s_mysteries

“ExoMars Performing Flawlessly.” ESA > Our Activities > Operations. March 23, 2016.
Available @ http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/ExoMars_performing_flawlessly