2003-12-19 有人火星探査に向けたオーロラプログラム計画:2030年に有人火星ミッション
欧州の火星ミッション、マーズエキスプレスが順調に飛行を続け、ビーグル-2の分離も成功して、すべてが予定通りに進んでいる。
一方、将来の有人火星探査に向けたオーロラプログラムが進んでいる。現在、科学者や民間企業などが参加して火星のロボット及び有人探査のための研究が進み、とくに月と火星に目標を絞っている。
このプログラムのロードマップともいえる長期計画が11月に提案された。
2007年:高速再突入技術実証
2009年:ExoMarsミッション。火星にローバを送り込み、火星生物探査
2001年/2014年:火星サンプルリターンミッション
2018年:エアロブレーキ、太陽電気推進、軟着陸技術実証及び予備ミッション
2024年:宇宙居住技術や生命維持システム宇宙実証のために月有人ミッションの実施
2026年:有人火星ミッションの試験として自動火星ミッションの実施
2030/2033年:有人火星ミッション実施
Now that Mars Express has successfully released Beagle 2 on its way to
Mars the next step in Europe's exciting journey to Mars will be completed
on Christmas Day, with the arrival of ESA's Mars Express orbiter, and the
delivery of the Beagle 2 lander to the planet's dusty plains.
Over several years, Mars Express will survey the entire planet in unprecedented
detail, mapping the surface, probing for underground water and analysing
the thin, carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere. Down below, the miniaturised
instruments on Beagle 2 will search for signs of primitive life and cast
some light on the environmental hazards to humans.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, ESA's Aurora Programme is already looking several
decades ahead to a time when humans will leave their footprints in the
red sands of Mars. ESA scientists and engineers, supported by the European
scientific and industrial communities, have been working to put together
a comprehensive plan for the robotic and human exploraration of the solar
system, and notably of the Moon and Mars. This plan will greatly benefit
from the expertise and knowledge that is being gained from the Europe's
pioneering Mars Express mission.
Aurora's long- term plan
The latest version of this ambitious roadmap was presented at the third
Aurora Working Meeting in Cologne in November. This long-term plan, which
has been endorsed by Aurora's Exploration Programme Advisory Committee
(EPAC), recently received the blessing of the Aurora Board of Participants.
Aurora's long-term plan stems from two strands: the current human spaceflight
experience in low Earth orbit (LEO) and the development of robotic planetary
exploration. The former is to be continued and enhanced so that human spaceflight
can be extended beyond LEO. The latter will be pursued throughout the Aurora
Programme with the aim of extending capabilities towards larger spacecraft
suitable for the human exploration of the solar system. The intertwined
development of capabilities in the two strands will eventually result in
Europe being able to play a key role in a future international human mission
to Mars.
The early robotic missions will build on the capabilities and discoveries
of Mars Express and Smart-1 in order to acquire the scientific knowledge
and technological expertise necessary to pursue more advanced missions.
Meanwhile, ground-based studies (e.g. Concordia station in Antarctica)
and experiments or demonstrations on the International Space Station will
pave the way for in-flight demonstrations of human spaceflight technologies.
These are some of the highlights of the current Aurora roadmap:
2007: an entry vehicle demonstrator mission to validate and demonstrate
high-speed re-entry technology
2009: ExoMars, an exobiology mission to send a rover to Mars in order
to search for traces of life ? past or present ? and characterise the nature
of the surface environment.
2011 / 2014: Mars sample return, a split mission to bring back to Earth
the first samples of Martian material
2014:Human mission technologies demonstrator(s) to validate technologies
for orbital assembly and docking, life support and human habitation
2018: a technology precursor mission to demonstrate aerobraking/aerocapture,
solar electric propulsion and soft landing (formerly envisaged as a smaller
Arrow-class mission to be launched in 2010)
2024:a human mission to the Moon to demonstrate key life support and habitation
technologies, as well as aspects of crew performance and adaptation and
in situ resources utilisation technologies
2026:an automatic mission to Mars to test the main phases of a human mission
to Mars
2030 / 2033:a split mission that will culminate in the first human landing
on Mars
"This plan is based on inputs from industry and previous working meetings,
as well as deliberations with the Aurora Exploration Programme Advisory
Committee," said Dietrich Vennemann, head of the Aurora long-term
planning team.
"It is a living document, not carved in stone, as the redefinition
of the aerocapture demonstration mission demonstrates," he added.
"This means that the timeline will be updated regularly in order to
take account of results generated within the programme.
"This is Europe's roadmap, and its implementation will take into account
co-operation with international partners. We see this objective as an ambition
for humanity," he explained. "Aurora is Europe's opportunity
to fulfill this ambition."