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04/02/2004: "Aurora"
"We need to go back to the Moon before we go to Mars. We need to walk before we run," Dr. Franco Ongaro, who heads the ESA's Aurora programme for long-term exploration of the solar system, said at a meeting of Aurora scientists in London.
The ESA has planned two flagship missions to Mars - ExoMars would land a rover on the planet in 2009, and Mars Sample Return would bring back a sample of the Martian surface in 2011-2014. 
Other test missions will include an unmanned version of the flight that would eventually carry astronauts to Mars to demonstrate aerobraking, solar electric propulsion and soft landing technologies.
A human mission to the Moon, proposed for 2024, would demonstrate key life-support and habitation technologies, as well as aspects of crew performance and adaptation to long-distance space flight.
ESA Aurora Programme
