The European Space Agency (ESA) has a Mission to Mars with ExoMars in 2018 Planned.

Image from yesterday's opening of the Mars yard in Stevenage, UK. The Mars yard will be used put the #ExoMars rover through its paces ahead of its mission to the Red Planet in 2018.

Mars Gully Formed 3 Years Ago

A substantial new gully channel has been discovered on Mars in images captured by the $40 million High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera mounted on the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The most interesting fact is that the gully channel was not present on Martian land three years ago, which scientists concluded has been formed in past three years. According to NASA, Mars gully is commonly found in the mid-latitudes of Mars by carbon dioxide frost, especially in Southern highlands. Scientists claimed that such sort of events generally take place during winters with little presence of liquid water. NASA officials added that although gully on Mars looks like river channels here on earth, they are not actually formed out of flowing water. They added that carbon dioxide plays key role in formation of many gullies on Martian surface. The MRO has been orbiting the Mars since 2006 and has been fitted with 10-feet dish antennas and number of scientific instruments like spectrometer for exploring the Martian surface. Some other Martian features, known as Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL), have also been spotted by MRO which did not seem associated with liquid. Researchers said if water does flow across the surface of present-day Mars from time to time, the planet would be a likelier bet to host life as we know it.