Russian, European experts to discuss Mars mission preparations in February

Russian and European researchers will convene in Moscow in February to discuss the scientific dimensions of the ExoMars mission, head of the European Space Agency (ESA) office in Russia Rene Pischel told reporters on Friday.

He said the ESA had been cooperating with NPO Lavochkin to resolve numerous engineering problems and to design the prospective vehicle.

Specialists developing ExoMars instruments will meet at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow in early February, he said.

Russia will launch Proton heavy-lift rockets in 2016 and 2018 to deliver an orbiter and a rover to Mars.

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