Russian-European Mars Mission postponed until 2022 amid coronavirus scare

European ncy (ESA) and Roscosmos Corporation have decided to postpone launch of second ExoMars mission amid coronavirus outbreak. ExoMars 'Rosalind Franklin' vehicle was due to launch to Red Planet in July/August, however, due unprecedented times and because engineers weren't able to get vehicle rey in time ncy decided to postpone mission. 

According to official site of ESA, ExoMars experts have concluded that tests necessary to make all components of craft fit for Mars venture need more time to complete. All hardware is built, but re still remains an intimidating list of outstanding checks that must be completed before mission is declared flight-rey. Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin also said that due to coronavirus outbreak in Europe experts can t proceed with travels to partner industries. 

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Launch postponed until 2022

Rogozin said in a statement, “We have me a difficult but well-weighted decision to postpone launch to 2022. It is driven primarily by need to maximise robustness of all ExoMars systems. I am confident that steps that we and our European colleagues are taking to ensure mission success will be justified and will unquestionably bring solely positive results for mission implementation”. 

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ESA Director-General, Jan Wörner, furr ded, “We want to make ourselves 100% sure of a successful mission. We cant allow ourselves any margin of error. More verification activities will ensure a safe trip and best scientific results on Mars”. 

ESA Director-General also said that coronavirus was having an impact of preparations as people from different places of industry in Russia, in Italy and France cant move easily as in past. He furr ded that, refore, coronavirus is 'one and only reason' that has impacted mission. 

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