Tuesday, October 18, 2016

European Space Agency To "Drop A Package By" Mars Overnight: ExoMars & Schiaparelli...


At about the same time this post comes online, the main engine burn -- to slow the ExoMars probe into a safe capture orbit -- will have begun.

I'll have more in the early morning, tomorrow, depending on how the ESA engineering effort turns out. Here's a bit:

. . . .As for Schiaparelli, its role is just to land intact. Its only mission is to demonstrate that ESA and Roscosmos have the necessary technology to safely land scientific hardware on Mars. That’s key for the next phase of the ExoMars mission, which involves landing a 680-pound rover on the Red Planet in 2021 to explore the surface and look for signs of biological life. The same technologies used to land Schiaparelli will be used to land the ExoMars rover as well. . . .


We wish them -- and in truth, all wayward shepherd moon-lettes -- the best of luck. . . . I'll be right here, waiting. After-all, it is a vast, wonderful but cold, dark ocean out there, and this is but a tiny row-boat, to be sure. Smile. . . .

[Oh, and as a post scriptum -- Kenilworth has opened a bio-similars explainer website (with differing portals for doctors, patients and insurers -- and differing content) -- to help educate various audiences, about this important part of the cost-constrained, emerging medical delivery landscape (and a part in which Merck plays an increasingly active role). Now you know.]

नमस्ते

No comments: