Tag Archives: ExoMars

Seeing Mars with 2020 vision: Jezero Crater and Oxia Planum

Both NASA and ESA hope their next Mars rovers will find evidence that life once thrived on Mars, but they have different strategies to reach this goal. Their landing site choices reflect this difference. Engineers are assembling two ambitious rover … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ExoMars 2020: FiT for Mars

Rovers are versatile explorers on the surface of other planets, but they do need some training before setting off. A model of Rosalind Franklin rover that will be sent to Mars in 2021 is scouting the Atacama Desert, in Chile, … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ExoMars rover named for Rosalind Franklin

The ExoMars rover that will search for the building blocks of life on the Red Planet has a name: Rosalind Franklin. The prominent scientist behind the discovery of the structure of DNA will have her symbolic footprint on Mars in … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ExoMars: Eberswalde Crater delta

This intricate structure of an ancient river delta once carried liquid water across the surface of Mars. The distinctive form of a delta arises from sediments that are deposited by a river as it enters slower-moving water, like a lake … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ExoMars rover software passes ESA Mars Yard driving test

Navigation software destined for the ExoMars 2020 mission to the Red Planet has passed a rover-based driving test at ESA’s ‘Mars Yard.’ ESA’s ExoMars rover will drive to multiple locations and drill down to two metres below the surface of … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

ExoMars: Rover fitness trials in Spanish desert

The sun set on a week of trials for the ExoMars rover prototype named Charlie (in the foreground). The first of two field trials for the mission, known as ExoFiT, took place in the Tabernas desert in Spain between 13-26 … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

ExoMars: Oxia Planum landing site favored

[Ed. note: See also here.] The ExoMars Landing Site Selection Working Group has recommended Oxia Planum as the landing site for the ESA-Roscosmos rover and surface science platform that will launch to the Red Planet in 2020. The proposal will be … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Sandstone outcrops seen with the ExoMars PanCam emulator

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, November 1, 2018: Peter Fawdon (The Open University, U.K.). PanCam (Coates et al., 2017) is the imaging instrument on the 2020 ExoMars rover and consists of two wide angle cameras; (WAC’s) and a High … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: An ExoMars landing site

HiRISE plays an important role in finding suitable landing sites for future rover missions. Scientists have narrowed down the candidate landing sites for the upcoming European ExoMars rover mission to two regions: the plains of Oxia and Mawrth Vallis. Images … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Closer to solving the methane mystery

Planetary scientists are getting closer to solving the puzzle of methane on Mars. New calculations could help to explain why NASA’s Curiosity rover detects peaks of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere during the planet’s northern summer. As winter gives … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off