The European Space Agency ends Russian cooperation with the ExoMars rover

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The ESA chief said Tuesday that the European Space Agency has ended its cooperation with Russia to launch Europe’s first interplanetary spacecraft.

Roscosmos and the European Space Agency were collaborating on a mission involving the European ExoMars Rover, designed to search for signs of life on Mars.

The launch of the rover in September 2022 was the beginning hung in marchJust weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Now, the ESA Board has officially cut ties with Roscosmos over this joint venture as a result of the war in Ukraine and ongoing sanctions, ESA Director General Joseph Asbacher wrote on Tuesday. on Twitter.

He said more details about the mission’s future will be announced on July 20.

The European Space Agency is considering working closely with NASA going forward since it became clear that the agency needed to “cut” its ties with Russia, Ashbacher said.

“Geopolitically speaking, it is clear that we need to cut off our relations with Russia, and this decision was taken by the member states,” He previously told CNN. “So yes, it is really unfortunate for all the science, technology and engineers who have been working on this for four decades. But there is no other choice to be made.”

The rover was originally scheduled to launch in July 2020, but the pandemic has pushed the launch window back.

Also known as Rosalind Franklin, ExoMars is a respected scientist who helped decipher the molecular structure of DNA, According to the European Space Agency.

Part of the probe’s mission involves drilling holes up to 6.6 feet (2 meters) to collect samples for analysis on board. ExoMars . is expected to travel Several kilometers during its mission And able to move between 164 and 328 feet (50 and 100 metres) for each Mars day, just under an hour longer than 24 hours on planet Earth, According to NASA.