European-Russian Mission to Mars Launches Next Week

The next robotic mission to Mars will launch in less than a week, if all goes according to plan. The first part of the two-phase, joint European-Russian ExoMars mission is scheduled to blast off atop a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kakakhstan on March 14. The Proton's payload consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and a lander called Schiaparelli, both of which should arrive at Mars in October after a seven-month cruise.