Mission type | Mars rover |
---|---|
Operator | ESA |
Website | www.esa.int/...ExoMars |
Mission duration | ≥ 7 months[1] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Astrium · Airbus |
Launch mass | 310 kg (680 lb) |
Power | 1200 W·h/d solar array, 1142 W·h Lithium-ion battery[2] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 2028[3] |
Rocket | U.S Commercial Vehicle. |
Mars rover | |
Landing date | NET 2029 |
Landing site | Oxia Planum |
ExoMars programme |
Rosalind Franklin,[4] previously known as the ExoMars rover, is a planned robotic Mars rover, part of the international ExoMars programme led by the European Space Agency and the Russian Roscosmos State Corporation.[5][6] The mission was scheduled to launch in July 2020,[7] but was postponed to 2022.[8] The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused an indefinite delay of the programme, as the member states of the ESA voted to suspend the joint mission with Russia;[9] in July 2022, ESA terminated its cooperation on the project with Russia.[10] As of May 2022[update], the launch of the rover is not expected to occur before 2028 due to the need for a new non-Russian landing platform.[11][12]
The original plan called for a Russian launch vehicle, an ESA carrier model, and a Russian lander named Kazachok,[13] that would deploy the rover to Mars' surface.[14] Once it had safely landed, the solar powered rover would begin a seven-month (218-sol) mission to search for the existence of past life on Mars. The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), launched in 2016, will operate as the data-relay satellite of Rosalind Franklin and the lander.[15]
The rover is named after Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist and DNA pioneer.
The mission received additional funding to restart and deliver complete the mission. The award went to Thales Alenia Space and scheduled for 2028.[16] In May 2024, after the program was restarted, ESA signed an agreement with NASA to procure a US launch vehicle for the mission.[3]
Astro2017
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