Question: ExoMars 2016 is joint mission of which of the following two space agencies?
(a) ISRO-NASA
(b) ISRO-Roscosmos
(c) NASA-ESA
(d) ESA-Roscosmos
Ans (d)
Related facts:
- On 14 March 2016 European Space Agency (ESA) and Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) launched an unmanned spacecraft, named ExoMars 2016, to find evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet.
- The joint European/Russian ExoMars spacecraft successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
- The joint mission is named as ExoMars-2016.
- ExoMars 2016, the first of a two-phase Mars exploration that lift-off on a Russian Proton rocket.
- With its suite of high-tech instruments, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) shall arrive at the Red Planet on 19 October 2016 after completing a seven month long journey of 308 million kilometers through space.
- It also consists of Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module.
- The second mission of Exo Mars will be launched in 2018.
- Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) sole purpose is to search (trace) evidence of methane (CH4) and other atmospheric gases that could be signatures of active biological or geological processes on Mars.
- The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli will travel to Mars together before separating on 16 October at distance of 900 000 km from the planet.
- Then, on 19 October, Schiaparelli will enter the Martian atmosphere, descending to the surface in just under six minutes.
- Schiaparelli will demonstrate key entry, descent, and landing technologies for future missions, and will conduct a number of environmental studies during its short mission on the surface.
Reference:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/ExoMars_launch_updates