We have always wondered if there is life on other planets like Mars, Jupiter, and in a bid to find the answer, a spacecraft is due to set off for Mars next week on a mission.
The craft, part of the European-Russian ExoMars program, is to lift off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a Proton rocket at 5:31 a.m. on Monday, Reuters has reported.
"Proving that life exists or has existed on Mars would show that Earth is not unique in terms of having life on it," said Rolf de Groot, head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Robotic Exploration Coordination Office.
"That would make it much more likely that there are other places in the universe that also have life," he added.
The cost of the ExoMars mission to ESA, including the second part due in 2018, is expected to be about 1.3 billion euros (USD 1.4 billion).
