Mars mission creates more than 1000 jobs in Europe
The Mars Express project - Europe's first mission to the 'red planet' - is creating some 1000 jobs around Europe, according to project manager Rudi Schmidt, from ESTEC the European Space Agency's technical centre in the Netherlands. Most Europeans almost certainly live near a research institute or industrial company that is contributing materials or expertise to Mars Express, reports the European Space Agency (ESA). At least 25 companies from 15 European countries are building hardware and software for the spacecraft or contributing expertise along with some 200 scientists from the research institutes in all ESA member states and beyond, it says. ESA hopes to launch Mars Express on its six month voyage in May or June 2003. 'The structure is taking shape under the guidance of the prime contractor Astrium, Toulouse (France), and the scientific teams are on target with scientific instrument development,' reports the Agency. The spacecraft will carry instruments that will record variations in the atmosphere above, on, and below the surface of Mars more accurately than ever before. 'The information...will help answer many questions outstanding about Mars,' says ESA. 'One concern is the fate of water that once flowed freely on the planet's surface, another is whether life ever evolved on Mars. Mars Express will also carry a landing vehicle 'Beagle 2', which will explore the planet for the first time since NASA's two Viking probes were deployed there in the 1970s. Beagle 2 will look for evidence of past or present life on Mars, study the weather and climate and aim to determine the geology and mineral and chemical composition of the landing site.
Countries
Netherlands