Rosalind Franklin (rover)
Rosalind Franklin, 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. The mission was scheduled to launch in July 2020, but was postponed to 2022. 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; in July 2022, ESA terminated its cooperation on the project with Russia. As of May 2022, the launch of the rover is not expected to occur before 2028 due to the need for a new non-Russian landing platform.
| Mission type | Mars rover |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA |
| Website | www.esa.int/...ExoMars |
| Mission duration | ≥ 7 months |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Astrium · Airbus |
| Launch mass | 310 kg (680 lb) |
| Power | 1200 W·h/d solar array, 1142 W·h Lithium-ion battery |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | NET 2028 |
| Mars rover | |
| Landing date | NET 2029 |
| Landing site | Oxia Planum |
ExoMars programme | |
The original plan called for a Russian launch vehicle, an ESA carrier model, and a Russian lander named Kazachok, that would deploy the rover to Mars' surface. 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.
The rover is named after Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist and DNA pioneer.