Exomars, the impossible mission is the name of the National Geographic documentary about a mission to Mars that has had many incidents, by the French director François Pomès. A film that also shows the human side of the scientists involved in this ambitious space program that began almost two decades ago.
Many scientists and even the French astronaut Jean-François Clervoy attended the screening of the documentary called Exomars, the Impossible Mission.
The documentary, broadcast by National Geographic and directed by François Pomès, follows the steps of a space mission whose objective is to send a European robot to Mars to determine if there is an extraterrestrial life form.
Created almost two decades ago, this mission, where more than 500 scientists have worked, has faced a multitude of obstacles, including technological difficulties, economic and health crises such as Covid.
“Exomars, the impossible mission“narrates the lives of the scientists who have worked on this ambitious project and how the dream of finding life on Mars is a challenge that has not yet been achieved.
Francois Pomes He followed the development of this space mission for more than seven years and traveled to places as remote as the California desert or the Kazakhstan steppes, passing through Turin, Italy.
François Pomès explained to RFI: “The idea of this documentary is to tell the incredible epic of the EXOMARS program with the aim of sending an absolutely incredible rover to Mars because this robot is going to be able to drill into the soil of Mars two meters deep, to detect possible traces of life. And the idea of this documentary is to tell how this mission is going to go through different adventures until today.”
EXOMARS
Exomars is a mission that was born in 2003, promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA), initially supported by NASA and later by the Russian agency ROSCOSMOS. Director François Pomès began filming in 2014.
The film allows us to see behind the scenes the different collaborations of the Member States of the European Space Agency, of the North American and Russian instances, images of the tests carried out in the Californian desert with special parachutes, of the maneuvers in Turin, Italy, with a replica of the Exomars rover, moving on a surface that seeks to imitate the Martian soil. And although there are already other rovers on the Martian soil, this rover is unique in its kind, since it also has a laboratory that allows it to analyze the samples collected.
The director François Pomès recalls one of the highlights of the seven years of filming: “The launch of the first part of the mission, in 2016, in the steppes of Kazakhstan, from the Baikonur cosmodrome… it was an impressive moment. Because seeing a rocket as powerful as the Russian PROTON launcher take off, so huge, the vibrations are felt for many kilometers around, for me that was a unique moment”.
“Another very complicated moment was when the Covid epidemic arrived in 2020 and literally nailed the EXOMARS mission to the ground, which was supposed to leave at that time…”
The filming of this documentary will reflect the vicissitudes of this space program. François Pomès: “I don’t know if you see what a roller coaster looks like… EXOMARS has been exactly that… the mission has gone through moments of happiness, dramatic moments, crashes, blockades, technical crises, health crises, politics, we have the impression that events do not stop, it is a permanent up and down, also on an emotional level for all the teams involved, myself included, I was also greatly affected by all the unforeseen events that this mission has gone through. “
Jorge Vago, scientific manager of EXOMARSconfirms the ups and downs of this almost impossible mission, in an interview with RFI:
MAG SCIENCE 2023_03_31 EXOMARS THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE DOCUMENTARY long version f/v
The documentary Exomars, the Impossible Mission by François Pomès can currently be viewed by National Geographic.