An artist's impression of the ExoMars rover on the surface of Mars.
Gathering dust was what it was supposed to be doing on Mars by now, but after a series of delays caused by a pandemic and then by war, Europe’s Franklin rover finally looks set to come out of storage and blast-off to the red planet.
Delayed in 2020 by COVID-19 and again after Russia’s war on Ukraine, the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission was this week green-lit for launch in 2028 after an agreement was struck between the European Space Agency and NASA.
Joint Mission
Originally a joint mission between ESA and Russian space agency Roscosmos, COVID-19 delayed its scheduled launch in the summer of 2020. Since there are launch windows to Mars from Earth only every 26 months, the launch of the mission was pushed back to September 2022. However, Russia’s war on Ukraine meant that in March 2022 the mission was then canceled by ESA.
NASA has now committed to stepping in to provide components for the mission previously offered by Rososmos, including a rocket for the actual launch as well as heater units and elements of the propulsion system needed to land on Mars. That will replace the landing platform that Roscosmos was originally supposed to provide.
ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover will drill about 25 times deeper than any other rover has ever ... [+]
Deep Drilling
The six-wheeled Rosalind Franklin rover will search for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. Its key feature is a drill that can reach a depth of up to 6.5 feet (two meters) deep below the surface. The deepest any rover has ever been able to drill, the plan is to collect ice samples that have been protected from the radiation and extreme temperatures on the Martian surface.
“The Rosalind Franklin rover’s unique drilling capabilities and onboard samples laboratory have outstanding scientific value for humanity’s search for evidence of past life on Mars,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA supports the Rosalind Franklin mission to continue the strong partnership between the United States and Europe to explore the unknown in our solar system and beyond.”
Artist’s impression of the Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover. This image shows a front view of the ... [+]
Building Blocks
Another key feature of the mission is a component called the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, which will search for the building blocks of life in the soil samples. NASA has now promised to provide key components for that instrument, which is set to identify geochemical signatures of life from rock samples.
The rover will land in an area of Mars called Oxia Planum to search for signs of ancient life in a clay-rich region.
Although the exact date of the launch has not been released, Mars and Earth will be closest in March 2028, which makes that month an ideal time to launch a spacecraft.
Rosalind Franklin was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer who work contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
