[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6337\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ELife could have existed under Martian surface \u2013 ESA chief Woerner\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDo you think there\u2019s life on Mars?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The definition of life is not that easy, but the real question on Mars is whether there is something that we understand as life, meaning organic material with cells. And, in fact, there is some chance that in the past there was something similar to life on Mars. Not on the surface, we know that, but maybe below it. And therefore the Mars mission, especially ExoMars 2018, intends to drill about two metres into the ground to find out whether there are some organic materials from the past, either still active or just existing because in the past the atmosphere of Mars was quite different from what we have now.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat would happen if we find life?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s a little bit of a philosophical question. Are we alone in the universe? Is earth the only place with life or not? From a probability point of view, it\u2019s easy to answer because there are so many solar systems in the universe that the probability that we are the only one is really small.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow will ExoMars help to expand our scientific knowledge? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018What I expect first of all is that we will really understand more about the details of Mars, including the question of life, but also what are the geological processes of the past and future on Mars?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018For instance, what is the exact composition of the atmosphere of Mars? We are using a very special trace gas orbiter to understand the Martian atmosphere, but also to search for evidence of gas of possible biological importance, in other words looking for something we might call life in the atmosphere as well. ExoMars is really looking for evidence of any type of organic material on Mars.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYou mentioned drilling. Is this the first time we\u2019ve drilled into the surface of Mars?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018To that depth, yes. It will be the first time drilling two metres deep.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow far are we away from a human mission to Mars?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I don\u2019t believe we will have a human mission to Mars within the next 30 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Because Mars is so far away from the earth, it\u2019s not comparable to a trip to the moon. The moon is always with the earth, but Mars has its own autonomous orbit, so a trip there and back takes up to two years. Now they are testing a one-year stay on the International Space Station, but if astronaut Scott Kelly gets ill he can return within hours. If you go to Mars and after just one week you discover some serious illness, then to wait maybe a year to get medical treatment, that\u2019s a little bit dangerous.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In addition, if we want to land, we need a rocket to leave the planet again. The moon has a gravity only 16 % that of the earth, but on Mars it is more than 40 % so you need a much more powerful rocket. Then there\u2019s the radiation during a two-year trip. You are outside the earth\u2019s shielding, and if you stay outside that for two years you\u2019d better be prepared.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018And finally, there\u2019s the psychological aspect. If you look up to the sky right now and you see Mars as a small red dot, that\u2019s exactly what astronauts would see, just in a different colour if they look back from Mars to earth. That is also a big thing from a psychological point of view.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018But I am sure humans will go to Mars. Humans went up Mount Everest, they go into the depths of the sea. Regardless of when and how they do it, humans will go to Mars, I am quite sure of that. And beyond, but it will take time.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECloser to home, you\u2019ve said we should build a village on the far side of the moon. Why?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you go to areas where you have no visibility of the earth, and you have none of the man-made radiation coming from earth, from those places you can have better visibility into the universe. A big observatory on the moon built, of course, with materials from the moon, that would be a very nice thing for scientists. The lunar south pole is a very interesting location. We have deep craters with permanent shadow from the sun and shadow from the earth, and we also have locations over there where we have permanent sunshine for energy.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Regardless of when and how they do it, humans will go to Mars, I am quite sure of that.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProf. Jan Woerner, Director General, European Space Agency\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018A village is, to my understanding, a location where different people come together in a small community. And this idea is transferred directly to a moon village, so I invite spacefaring nations from all around the world to bring their contribution, be it robotic or human, to have this common place on the moon for different applications. Public and private companies are invited to participate. This is the idea of the moon village.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhen we think about the big spacefaring nations, we think of the US, Russia and now China. How is Europe doing in comparison?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Europe is doing perfectly. The European Space Agency has a very nice position in the global space arena because we have very stable relations with the United States of America, with Russia, with India, with China and with Japan. So you could say we are like a broker, a mediator, an enabler, a facilitator of global space activities.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHas the nature of space exploration changed?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Yes. The space race is over. The space race was governed by vanity and prestige for the different countries. We still have competition in space but we have collaboration and competition at the same time. It is a new vision of space that bridges earthly problems. For instance, in the International Space Station we have Europeans, we have Russians, we have Americans all at the same time, while on earth there are sanctions against Russia. I think we always need, even in times of crisis, something that bridges such crises, and space is the perfect instrument for that because it already stretches across borders.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYou have said you want a United Space in Europe. What do you mean by that?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In Europe we have a lot of activities in space. So, for example, the different Member States, sometimes they have their own space agencies, sometimes we have the European Union being active in space, we have the European Southern Observatory, we have the European Space Agency, so my dream is now \u2013 and this dream can be achieved \u2013 that we bring together the interests of the different entities to really join forces and achieve a United Space in Europe.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy should people be happy that their tax money is going into space?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018What we are spending in Europe overall equates to each European citizen putting 10 litres of fuel in their car per year, so it\u2019s not that expensive. One euro invested in space is six euros generated afterwards in different areas, for instance in the telecommunication or navigation domains. So there is a return on investment money-wise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018But I think also we have to consider that Europe has a long heritage of pioneering and exploration. I hope, I have the feeling and I am convinced \u2013 all three at the same time \u2013 that the person in the street is really fascinated by exploration. When in the Rosetta mission we landed on Churyumov-Gerasimenko, I got emails saying, \u201cI\u2019m so glad that my money is going into this mission.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In these days of economic crisis, migration and terrorist attacks, we need shared values for the future, and European heritage has some very good values: democracy, freedom, philosophy, art, but also pioneering and exploration.\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-tt0khqeeatqz5ozjomubsnrv3dm8lxkru3pf3z6ejb0\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-tt0khQeEAtQz5oZjOmuBsnRV3DM8lxkrU3pf3Z6eJb0\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]