The ExoMars rover could have a second chance to go to Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to swap a Russian-built entry and descent platform for a version made in Europe, but the space agency will have to ensure a substantial budget to go ahead.
Following a board meeting on Thursday, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher reassured reporters that the scientific goals of the ExoMars mission will still be relevant six years from now, when the agency space plans to launch the rover. “Science with the Rosalind Franklin rover is still the most advanced and interesting science in the search for life on Mars,” he said. said during the press conference. “There is no other similar mission planned…it would still be cutting edge science.”
The rover, named after scientist Rosalind Franklin, was due to launch in September this year to begin its journey to the Red Planet. The ExoMars rover was to be launched aboard a Russian Proton rocket and land on the dusty surface of Mars using a Russian-made landing platform called Kazachok. But earlier in March, ESA suspends joint mission with the Russian space agency Roscosmos after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The space agency has been scrambling to breathe new life into its Mars mission and now wants to launch the rover in 2028. But to do that, ESA needs to provide the rover with a brand new landing pad that will be made in Europe, David Parker, ESA’s director of human and robotic exploration, said at the press conference.
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The fate of the rover will be decided at the meeting of the ESA Ministerial Council, which will be held from November 22 to 23 in Paris. Each of the space agency’s member states is represented by one person on the board, and they each get one vote to determine the guidelines for ESA’s space program. “The decision will be taken at the ministerial meeting itself, but we have finalized the legal documents to make it happen,” Aschbacher said.
During the meeting, ESA will present a first budget request for a 360 million euros assignment ($355 million)the the majority of which will be used to redesign the ExoMars mission, BBC reported. The space agency may even need additional funding later, Parker told the BBC.
ExoMars is apartial mission, with an orbiter launched in 2016 to study the chemistry of the atmosphere of Mars. The Rosalind Franklin rover is designed to search for evidence of ancient life on Mars using a handy drill that descends 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the surface to unearth the planet’s past. “The idea is to go to Mars, but also to go back in time,” Parker said during the press briefing.
The mission suffered numerous delays even before things got ugly with the Russian space agency. Funding for ExoMars has been awarded to more than 10 years agobut technical delays and the covid-19 pandemic pushed the release date in the fall of 2022.
ESA works feverishly to quote new trips into space after no longer being able to rely on the Russian Soyuz rocket. The space agency recently announced that it will use the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launches its Euclid infrared space telescopee sometime in 2023. ESA is also awaiting the planned liftoff of the European rocket Ariane 6, a heavy launcher that is currently is expected to debut in late 2023.
It seems a bit difficult for the European space agency at the moment, but hopefully its Mars rover can eventually get to the red planet…even if it is six years later than expected.
After: NASA and ESA shift plans for ambitious Mars sample return mission
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