Roscosmos is the new Mars mission jointly launched by The European Space Agency and Russian Space Agency. The objective of this collaboration is to search life on Mars and on the Exomars.

According to The Guardian, two separate vehicles will be launched into Mars.

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1.      The Schiaparelli EDM Lander. (EDM: Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module) is a proof of concept (POC) design with non-rechargeable batteries lasting 4 Martian days and shall be measuring electric fields, dust particles concentration and ambient humidity on Mars surface when it lands during dust storm season.

2.       The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) shall be mapping traces of Methane gas on the Mars atmosphere. Data collected by NASA's Curiosity showed Methane to be available there which was denied in earlier tests. TGO shall not only be finding site where methane can be organically produced but also look for a suitable landing site for the next project, the ExoMars Rover.

The ExoMars rover shall have panoramic camera, spectrometers, ground penetrating radar, 2 meters drilling capacities driller and organic sample analysis package. 2018 is the tentative launch year for ExoMars that can possibly be delayed till 2020.

If ExoMars mission succeeds, it will be a feather in the cap of Roscosmos. NASA has been most successful in Mars exploration. Mars 2, Mars 3, Mars 6, Phobos 1, Phobos 2, Mars 8, Mars 96, Nozomi and Beagle 2 are the lists of failed Mars exploration from Soviet and Japan. Only Mars Express Orbiter that was launched with Beagle 2 remains fully functional.

NASA too has failed with Mars Observer and Polar Lander. Worldwide Mars mission's success rate is just 53 percent. NASA is also planning for Mars 2020 rover, based on Curiosity's design.

UberGizmo explains about TGO's objectives with this mission as finding methane emission and search for past existence of life. Finding dead microbes shall be a big achievement as well.