A spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan on Monday aims to answer an age-old question: Is there life on Mars?
EPA Dubbed the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, the probe is intended to circle the red planet and find evidence of methane and other atmospheric gases that could prove that it’s home to biological life,
The Russian space agency worked with the ESA on the joint mission, which is the first stage of a two-part study.
A Proton rocket carrying the orbiter blasted off from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppe of northern Kazakhstan at around 3:31 p.m. local time Wednesday, the agencies said.
Getty Images The spacecraft is expected to reach the planet in about seven months, after completing a 308-million-mile voyage.
While methane would be the key indicator of life, the probe will also be on the hunt for water vapors, nitrogen oxides and acetylene.
The second phase of the Mars mission — which includes sending an ExoMars rover to the planet — is set to lift off in 2018.
