On March 14, 2016 at 09:31 UTC the Russian "Proton-M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-M” booster orbited the European Space Agency’s “ExoMars” probe. Packaged atop the Proton rocket are the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, a platform designed to map the prevalence of methane in the Martian atmosphere, and the Schiaparelli lander, a stationary module that will make an automated touchdown on the red planet October 19.