On March 17, the director of the Russian Space Agency, Rogozin, announced that Russian Aerospace will launch the "ExoMars" Mars probe alone, and on March 19, Rogozin told reporters again at the Baikonur Space Center: No longer use the European Space Agency's "Franklin" rover, this time ESA has lost a lot.
It is not that the Russian space agency has broken its oath and refused to cooperate with the European Space Agency, but that the European Space Agency has suddenly announced that it will stop cooperation with the Russian space agency on the "ExoMars" Mars mission.
On March 17, the European Space Agency announced that it would cease all cooperation with the Russian Space Agency on the "ExoMars" Mars mission, no longer using the Russian "Proton-M" launch vehicle, no longer using the Russian-developed Mars landing platform, and the "ExoMars" mission launch in 2022 released the pigeons again.
"ExoMars" mission to become "King of Ace Pigeons"
In 2001, the European Space Agency proposed the "ExoMars" mission, planning to put a Mars rover on the surface of Mars in 2009 and then return the Mars sample, but by July 2009, the "ExoMars" did not even find a partner, and the rover did not even see a shadow.
In August 2009, the European Space Agency was fortunate enough to negotiate cooperation with roscosmos on the ExoMars mission: the European Space Agency mainly built a Mars rover, and the Russian space agency mainly built a Mars landing platform and provided launch rockets, which are scheduled to be launched in 2016.
As a result, in 2016, it was still not completed, so it was planned to launch in 2018, and in 2018, due to the impact of insufficient funds, technical difficulties, changes in partners and other factors, the "Franklin" Mars rover and the "Cossack Dance" landing platform were not fully prepared, and the launch of the "ExoMars" Mars mission had to be postponed again, so let's launch in July 2020.
In July 2020, the "ExoMars" Mars mission was again affected by the epidemic, and the European Space Agency once again announced that the "ExoMars" Mars mission was changed to September 2022, but in 2022, the European Space Agency announced that it would stop cooperating with the Russian Space Agency, and the "ExoMars" Mars mission launch became far away.
Some people have said that India's Chandrayaan 2 lunar probe and Weber space telescope are "ace pigeons", postponed for many years, but in any case, it still waited until the launch day, then released 5 pigeons in a row, and finally became distant "ExoMars" Mars mission is the "king of doves".
ESA lost a lot
The three most important components of the ExoMars mission are the Franklin Mars rover, the Kazachok landing platform, and the Proton-M launch vehicle.
Now, these three important parts are basically ready, waiting for the launch in September 2022, and Russia has also provided the rover with a radioactive isotope heating device, which really treats ESA as a "buddy", and if it does not arrive, ESA will now immediately "turn its face".
Without a rover, Russia could still launch a Mars rover, but some of the missions could not be completed, and the InSight Mars rover launched by the United States in May 2018 is a good example, without a rover, I don't know how happy and happy on Mars.
On March 17, Rogozin also said: "ExoMars" Mars mission to stop cooperation, Russia to modify the landing platform is not difficult, but it will waste a few years." On March 19, Russian Space Agency Director Rogozin added: "Is it necessary to use a Mars rover anywhere?" I don't think it's necessary, because the lander itself is a separate research station, and it will be enough to accomplish this task. ”
However, if the ESA rover had not launched rockets and Mars landing platforms, the Mars exploration mission would probably have failed. Now, ESA is caught in a dilemma, one, who will use the "Franklin" rover to use its rockets, and second, who will build the landing platform, and who will fill the billion-dollar funding gap generated by this.
At present, there are Chinese Long March rockets, Russian Alliance rockets, The Atlas V carrier rocket of the United States and the SpaceX Falcon rocket of the United States, which stop cooperation with Russian aerospace, of course, will not choose to cooperate with continental space, and choose only two, one is the American Atlas V carrier rocket, and the other is the SpaceX Falcon rocket.
The current rocket engine of the United States "Atlas V" is provided by Russia, and now Russia has stopped providing rocket engines to the United States, so the rocket engines in the US inventory are one less, and the inventory in 2023 will be used up, and it will not be used later.
It can be launched with SpaceX Falcon rockets, but SpaceX boss Musk is just a businessman, the use of Falcon rockets is not free, Mars probe launch is a major launch, no more than the launch of orbiting satellites, no hundreds of millions of dollars only afraid of talking.
The bigger problem is that with the "Franklin" Mars rover supporting the Mars landing platform, the European Space Agency does not seem to have mastered this technology, its own research is only afraid that it will take several years, let the Us boss to develop, is to shorten the time, but the United States is not a vegetarian, only afraid of hundreds of millions of dollars of costs.
Can't the European Space Agency work with NASA? I'm going to ask rhetorically, will the United States go to a rare rover with a solar cell? The United States has a nuclear battery rover Curiosity and Perseverance, and the advanced degree is to dump the "Franklin" rover for several streets.
In this way, stopping space cooperation with Russia is actually a big loss for the European Space Agency, not a big loss for Russia, and it is said that space has no borders, and this time it really updates my cognition. Interesting and informative scientific content, please pay attention to the only WeChat public account: Interesting Exploration