Mar 142016
A Russian Proton rocket has successfully launched the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars spacecraft. ExoMars – an orbiter and a lander – is specifically designed to look for signs of life on Mars. It’ll be a while before results can come back. The lander will separate from the spacecraft in October and is to land on October 19.
Orbiter aerobraking into a circular Mars orbit will take place between January 2017 and November 2017, with science operations starting in December 2017. This of course assumes success… the Europeans and the Russians don’t exactly have a spectacular record with Mars landers.