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 The craft, part of the ExoMars program, blasted off from the
Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a Proton rocket, starting
a seven-month journey through space.
It carries an atmospheric probe that is to study trace gases such as
methane -- a chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life -- that
previous Mars missions have detected in the planet's atmosphere.
"Why are we so interested in Mars? We are trying to understand how
life originated in our solar system," Pascale Ehrenfreund, chair of
German space agency DLR's executive board, said at a launch event
held by the European Space Agency.
Scientists believe the methane could stem from micro-organisms,
called methanogenes, that either became extinct millions of years
ago and left gas frozen below the planet's surface, or that some
methane-producing organisms still survive.
 Another explanation for the methane in Mars's atmosphere could be
that it is produced by geological phenomena, such as the oxidation
of iron.
The spacecraft will deploy a lander that will test technologies
needed for a rover due to follow in 2018, one step in overcoming the
practical and technological challenges facing possible future human
flights to Mars.
"I'm sure in 20 years or 30 years the moment will come when humans
will go to the planet," Thomas Reiter, director of Human Spaceflight
and Robotic Exploration at the European agency, said. EARLY LIFE?
The second part of the ExoMars mission in 2018 will deliver a
European rover to the surface of Mars. It will be the first with the
ability to both move across the planet's surface and drill into the
ground to collect and analyze samples.
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"If there was early life it could have found refuge in the
sub-surface, and the methane could be connected to that," ExoMars
project scientist Jorge Vago said.
Landing on Mars is a notoriously difficult task that has bedeviled
nearly all of Russia's previous efforts and has given U.S. agency
NASA trouble as well. The United States currently has two
operational rovers on Mars, Curiosity and Opportunity.
The cost of the ExoMars mission to the European Space Agency,
including the second part due in 2018, is expected to be about 1.3
billion euros ($1.4 billion). Russia's contribution comes on top of
that.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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