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U.S., ESA Move Closer to Renewed Joint Space Exploration Projects |
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PARIS, France, March 13, 2007/Satnews Daily/ ― A rare conjunction of objectives is pushing both the Americans and Europeans towards renewed joint projects to explore the outer planets of the solar system.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are seriously considering increasing cooperation in forthcoming space exploration projects, driven by a similarity of objectives and the need to save money, according to reports. NASA is said to be looking at developing a flagship project along the lines of Europe’s hugely successful Cassini-Huygens robotic probe of Saturn and its moons. The Europeans are searching for another flagship mission. Both proposed missions are scheduled to visit Jupiter, Saturn and their moons, including Saturn’s intriguing moon, Enceladus, a “water moon” that has shown evidence of organic elements.
Enceladus, Europa and Titan are among the destinations to be proposed under ESA’s "Cosmic Visions” exploration program. The Americans are considering sending their satellites to the Jupiter, its moon, Europa, and Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan. Another, but more exotic, joint project being proposed is a mission to return soil from a near-Earth asteroid.
ESA sources said both they and the Americans have organized teams to explore cooperative projects. Both are looking at similar schedules for the launch of their respective missions. NASA plans to launch sometime after 2015 with ESA aiming for 2015 to 2018.
ESA yesterday issued an invitation for proposals for its Next Exploration Science and Technology (NEXT) mission. Envisaged for launch between 2015 and 2018, the technological goal of NEXT will be to demonstrate key vehicle enabling capabilities, such as descent and precision landing, that would be needed for a future Mars Sample Return mission.
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