Collecting dust was what was intended to be done on Mars, but after a series of delays caused by a pandemic and then war, the European Franklin rover finally manages to get out of the garage and blast off for the Red Planet.
Delayed in 2020 by COVID-19 and returned after Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Rosalind Franklin ExoMars project was given the green light this week for launch in 2028 after an agreement reached between the European Space Agency and NASA.
Initially a joint project of ESA and the Russian space company Roscosmos, COVID-19 delayed its planned launch to summer 2020. Since there are only launch windows to Mars from Earth every 26 months, the project’s launch has been pushed back until September 2022. However, Russia’s war against Ukraine led to the cancellation of the project through ESA in March 2022.
NASA has now pledged to step in to supply parts for the mission proposed by Rososmos in the past, adding a rocket for the actual launch, as well as heating equipment and propulsion formula elements needed to land on Mars. This will upgrade the landing pad that Roscosmos was originally intended to supply.
The six-wheeled Rosalind Franklin rover will search for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. Its main feature is a drill rig that can reach a depth of up to two meters (6. 5 feet) below the surface. If it has ever been able to drill, the plan is to collect ice cores that have been caused by radiation and excessive temperatures on the surface of Mars.
“The unique drilling functions of the Rosalind Franklin rover and onboard pattern lab are of exceptional clinical importance to humanity’s search for evidence of life beyond Mars,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA supports the Rosalind Franklin project will continue the strong partnership between the U. S. and Europe to explore the unknown in our solar formula and beyond. “
Another key component of the project is a component called the Mars Organic Molecule Analyser, which will search for the building blocks of life in soil samples. NASA has now promised to supply key parts for this instrument, which aims to identify the geochemical signatures of life from rock samples.
The rover will land on a domain on Mars called Oxia Planum to look for signs of ancient life in a clay region.
While the exact launch date hasn’t been revealed, Mars and Earth will be closer in March 2028, making this month the best time to launch a spacecraft.
Rosalind Franklin, British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose paintings contributed to the discovery of the arrangement of DNA.
I wish you clear skies and wide-open eyes.
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