ESA and Roscosmos delay ExoMars mission to 2022
Posted: Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 8:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
ESA and Roscosmos have delayed the launch of their ExoMars rover mission to 2022. The agencies announced Thursday morning that a lack of time to test and qualify problematic parachutes and electronics vital to the spacecraft forced them to postpone the launch, which had been scheduled for this summer. The mission had struggled with its parachutes, which were damaged in tests last year and required modifications to their extraction system that have yet to be fully tested. ESA also said the coronavirus outbreak would have had an impact on the mission because international teams cannot travel as easily as before.
ESA and Roscosmos have delayed the launch of their ExoMars rover mission to 2022. The agencies announced Thursday morning that a lack of time to test and qualify problematic parachutes and electronics vital to the spacecraft forced them to postpone the launch, which had been scheduled for this summer. The mission had struggled with its parachutes, which were damaged in tests last year and required modifications to their extraction system that have yet to be fully tested. ESA also said the coronavirus outbreak would have had an impact on the mission because international teams cannot travel as easily as before.
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