12 November 2024 marks the start of a new year on Mars. At exactly 10:32 CET/09:32 UTC on Earth, the Red Planet began a new orbit around our Sun.

Year 38 on Mars. Credits: ESA

To celebrate this milestone, we asked European Mars exploration teams about their martian New Year’s resolution. Here’s what they shared:

Year 38 on Mars, resolutions on Earth

Here’s to making the next 687 Earth days filled with discovery, unity, and an enduring passion for exploration.

Orson Sutherland, ESA’s Mars exploration group leader

A few wishes from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter team:

  • For the orbiter to stay healthy, conducting science and data relay, until the ExoMars rover gets to the Red Planet in about another three Mars years from now.
  • For its Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) to take new beautiful images of the Mars surface, and some edge-on images of the atmosphere.
  • For its instruments NOMAD and ACS to gather new data about the variability of trace gases in Mars’ atmosphere.
  • For its radiation dosimeter to study the harmful radiation exposures during this year’s solar maximum.

Colin Wilson, ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter project scientist

Trace Gas Orbiter instruments. Credits: ESA/ATG medialab

 

The ambitions of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission team for the next martian year will be to consolidate the design of the new lander, complete the assembly of the spacecraft flight model (carrier with lander and rover), and be ready for the environmental test campaign by the end of 2026.

Pietro Baglioni, ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission project team leader

Make sure that before the next Mars year, we in the science team continue to learn everything we possibly can about Oxia Planum and the environments that are recorded there — both from orbit and from ground-based research — so that we can fold in the latest hypotheses into our science strategy for rover operations.

Elliot Sefton-Nash, planetary scientist

My resolution for the New martian Year is to demonstrate the real capabilities of the most sophisticated arm ever built for Mars by building and putting through its paces the Sample Transfer Arm engineering model! 

Pantelis Poulakis, Sample Transfer Arm team leader

For this new Mars year I wish to establish in the first quarter of Mars Year 38 a nice interplanetary travel baseline for our ESA & Airbus spacecraft. May this be the first step towards filling my cup ( see picture) with a little taste of martian history!

Leila Lorenzoni, Earth Return Orbiter Guidance, Navigation & Control principal systems engineer

  • See the first launch of Ariane64 , which will also be used to rocket the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) to Mars.
  • Get ERO back on track within the updated Mars Sample Return architecture to get samples back as soon as possible.
  • Improve the fill rate of the M&M rocket in the coffee corner.

Kelly Geelen, ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter systems team leader

A rocket in need of sweet fuel. Credits: K. Geelen

Plan the third international Mars Sample Return conference during the 38th martian year.

Gerhard Kminek, ESA’s Mars Sample Return lead scientist

  • Confirm ESA contribution to the Mars Sample Return (re)architecture, and play my part by ensuring at timely update of the joint management implementation plan.
  • Maximise the perspectives for the success of the Rosalind Franklin mission by tracking the project implementation during this martian year and by following the recommendations of peer review for the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module.

Albert Haldemann, ESA’s Mars chief engineer

Earth Return Orbiter over Mars. Credits: NASA/ESA/JPL