The BBC has an article by Jonathan Amos about a non-US mission to Mars:
Europe and Russia have launched a joint mission to the Red Planet. The satellite, called the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), lifted off from Baikonur (photo) in Kazakhstan.
The probe will investigate whether the methane in Mars' atmosphere is coming from a geological source, or is being produced by microbes.
If all goes well, the two space powers expect to follow up this venture with a rover, to be assembled in the UK, which will drill into the surface. That could launch in 2018 or, as seems increasingly likely, in 2020.
Rico says it's nice that someone (besides Hollywood) is going to Mars...
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