Europe plans to launch advanced Mars lander in 2035

[Admin]

The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to develop key technologies for a Mars surface lander by the mid-2030s.

Europe plans to launch advanced Mars lander in 2035 : Read more

 

[Catastrophe]

Will Musk's be earlier?

Musk has made statements on several occasions about aspirational dates for Starship's earliest possible Mars landing,[31] including in 2022, that a crewed mission to Mars could take place no earlier than 2029.[32]

Cat

 

[Cdr. Shepard]

Will Musk's be earlier?



Cat

This ESA "precision lander" is uncrewed, but yes, SpaceX will likely be landing boots before ESA lands a lander. They (ESA) are so woefully far behind in this multipolar space race, and so woefully unambitious. They're entirely unserious about space in general.

 

[evening_hunger]

What E. Musk is saying is of little relevance. It's corporate talk. He must ensure SpaceX does well, that's all there is to it.
Let's add some realism to it.
First off: what is mentioned in the article (but far, far, under-emphasized) is that the 2035 launch window is a complete game-changer in the Mars *crewed* mission plans. You see, sending humans into space ain't like dusting crops. If you can make the mission one month shorter (especially interplanetary with >lots< of exposure to solar radiation etc.) you will, also - or actually much more so - because you *must* do fuel economy. Otherwise - no return. The 2035 'flyby' means Mars will be 0.38au from Earth, while e.g. now (I mean the next window in the 26mo cycle) we'll have something like 0.67au. That means 2035 will cut your journey roughly by half.
And you're telling me a man whose companies rip people off on anything they can, is willing to wave of some extra few billion bucks to "solve that". Yeah, right. Take this post, print it out, frame it on the wall and read it every christmas: if Musk goes to Mars before 2035 I'm the next pope (the one after Leo 14, that is).
But wait, that's not all.
So, ESA is "woefully far behind" and "unambitious". Righto. And what does your Musk master plan for the Mars landing? Because you see, Starship aint landin even on Earth, it has zero landing capability - so no wonder they're now at the stage of worrying about its 'exploding capability' because that's quite efficient. You think Musk will solve this, add a landing capability, add Mars aerobraking, add double redundancy, test this and gets the boots on the ground before ESA does the rover?
Again, take this post, print it out, frame it on the wall, and wait... you know the drill.
Poor Americans, you!

 

[Helio]

The greater the adventures of the ESA the more likely NASA will get appropriate funding.

[After the Shuttle disaster, the COBE team had to struggle to find an alternative launch vehicle. They visited France and found a way to get on an Ariane rocket instead, but at a higher cost than planned. NASA ( and Congress, IIRC) quickly shot it down as this was to be a US mission. Guess who got their needed funding? COBE was more than a science mission, it was an advancement in prestige. ]