The ESA ousted Russia from the Rosalind Franklin Rover mission and are continuing without them. Despite the delay, excitement is building.
This screenshot from an animation shows the Rosalind Franklin rover's drill about to pierce the Martian surface. The rover can drill two meters deep and collect samples. Image Credit: ESA
The Rosalind Franklin Rover was initially called the ExoMars Rover. ExoMars was a two-part joint mission between the ESA and Roscosmos . The first part is the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which is currently in orbit around Mars. The rover is meant to follow the orbiter and has been renamed in honour of British chemist and DNA researcher, a 3.9 billion-year-old, 200-km-wide plain that contains one of the largest regions of exposed clay-bearing rocks on the planet.
The RFR is aimed at astrobiology rather than geology, and if there’s any astrobiological evidence for it to find, it’ll be buried. The subsurface is protected from harmful radiation that could degrade evidence of life. As it moves around Oxia Planum, the RFR will use its ground-penetrating radar to study the subsurface. The radar is called WISDOM for Water Ice Subsurface Deposits Observation on Mars.
The RFR also has wide-angle cameras on a mast to help it investigate its surroundings and find routes. The cameras will also identify The ESA deserves credit for severing its relationship with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine and pivoting to complete the mission without Roscosmos’ involvement.
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