Joint Mars plans come together

摘要

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have unveiled a joint plan for exploring Mars in the latter half of the next decade. ESA will build a trace-gas orbiter, able to map plumes of methane in the atmosphere, for launch in 2016. This could help to target landing of the agency's flagship rover, ExoMars, and a midsized NASA rover, due for launch in 2018.