{"id":12975,"date":"2019-08-28T23:46:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T15:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/exomars-rover-leaves-british-factory-heads-for-testing-in-france\/"},"modified":"2019-08-28T23:46:42","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T15:46:42","slug":"exomars-rover-leaves-british-factory-heads-for-testing-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/exomars-rover-leaves-british-factory-heads-for-testing-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"ExoMars rover leaves British factory, heads for testing in France"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_40535\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40535\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-40535\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus-678x451.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-40535\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The completed ExoMars rover, named \u201cRosalind Franklin,\u201d is lifted in preparation for shipment from an Airbus facility in Stevenage, England. Credit: Max Alexander\/Airbus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The European Space Agency\u2019s ExoMars rover left its Airbus factory in Britain on Wednesday, heading for a round of testing in France before integration with its carrier and descent modules on pace for launch toward the Red Planet next July.<\/p>\n<p>The nearly-complete rover is the centerpiece of the ExoMars mission, a joint robotic exploration project between ESA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.<\/p>\n<p>The rover is named for Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist and X-ray&nbsp;crystallographer whose work contributed to the discovery of the twisting double helix shape of DNA molecule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompleting the build of the Rosalind Franklin rover under the strict cleanliness requirements, with all the science instruments onboard, is a major milestone of our ExoMars program,\u201d said David Parker, ESA\u2019s director of human and robotic exploration, in a statement. \u201cIt is thanks to the dedication of all the teams involved that we are able to celebrate this moment today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to completing the final rounds of tests before the rover is declared flight ready and closed inside the landing platform and descent module that will deliver it safely to the surface of Mars,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n<p>The Rosalind Franklin rover is Europe\u2019s first Mars rover.<\/p>\n<p>In launch configuration, the solar-powered robot weighs nearly 700 pounds (about 300 kilograms). The European rover is smaller than&nbsp;NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover currently exploring Mars \u2014 along with NASA\u2019s Mars 2020 rover set for launch next year \u2014 and somewhat larger than the Spirit and Opportunity rovers that landed on the Red Planet in 2004.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L1SYtW_zybA\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Teams at Airbus Defense and Space\u2019s facility in Stevenage, England, north of London, assembled the Rosalind Franklin rover in a special ultra-clean factory over the last 18 months. The construction work capped more than a decade of design \u2014 and redesign \u2014 activities to prepare the ExoMars rover for its flight to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>Airbus teams built the rover under strict cleanliness requirements, on top of the clean room standards for a typical space mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe goal of ExoMars is to find life on the surface, more specifically under the surface, of Mars, and that means that we absolutely cannot take anything organic with us,\u201d said Paul Meacham, the rover\u2019s lead systems engineer at Airbus. \u201cSo that informs things like material choices. The wheels on the rover, for example, are metallic rather than being made of rubber. But that also means that when people are working on it, they must not in any way organically contaminate the rover.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over the last few months, engineers installed the rover\u2019s scientific instruments, drill, a 3D panoramic camera suite, solar panels and wheels.<\/p>\n<p>The Rosalind Franklin rover\u2019s scientific payload includes instruments from Europe and Russia, with some component contributions from NASA. The instruments will study the make-up of the rocks and soil around the rover on Mars.<\/p>\n<p>Teams at Airbus also installed the rover\u2019s Analytical Laboratory Drawer, an instrument box which holds equipment to deliver rock and soil samples to three scientific instruments housed inside the container.<\/p>\n<p>The rover\u2019s six metallic wheels and drive system come from MDA in Canada, a division of Maxar Technologies.<\/p>\n<p>The United Kingdom is the second-biggest financial contributor to the ExoMars program among ESA member states, after Italy, so Airbus\u2019s Stevenage factory won the rights to the rover development.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_40536\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40536\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-40536\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus-.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus--300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus--768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/ExoMars-rover-Copyright-Max-Alexander-Airbus--678x381.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-40536\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The completed ExoMars rover, named \u201cRosalind Franklin,\u201d is lifted in preparation for shipment from an Airbus facility in Stevenage, England. Credit: Max Alexander\/Airbus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After leaving Airbus\u2019s Stevenage plant, Rosalind Franklin rover\u2019s next stop is at Airbus\u2019s satellite factory in Toulouse, France, where it is due to arrive by truck Friday.<\/p>\n<p>In Toulouse, engineers will place the rover on a vibration bench and in a thermal vacuum test chamber to verify the robot can withstand the rigors of spaceflight and the frigid environment of Mars, where temperatures will drop to minus 184 degrees (minus 120 degrees Celsius) outside, and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 degrees Celsius) inside the rover, according to ESA.<\/p>\n<p>The carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere is about 100 times thinner than Earth\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>The test campaign in Toulouse should last about four months, assuming everything goes according to plan, then officials will ship the rover to Thales Alenia Space in Cannes to meet the ExoMars mission\u2019s German-built cruise stage and Russian descent module.<\/p>\n<p>Engineers mated the cruise stage and descent module for the first time this week at a Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, where the hardware will undergo its own test series over the coming months before shipping to Cannes, where engineers will add the rover.<\/p>\n<p>While the major pieces of the ExoMars mission are coming together in Europe, engineers are struggling to confirm the readiness of the lander\u2019s parachutes, which will slow the spacecraft before touchdown on Mars. The two most recent ExoMars parachute tests \u2014 in May and earlier this month \u2014 resulted in tears to the chutes.<\/p>\n<p>On the most recent test, conducted over Sweden on Aug. 5, the largest of the four parachutes needed to deliver the ExoMars lander to the surface of Mars suffered damage to its canopy. As a result, the test vehicle used in the parachute test descended under the aerodynamic drag of only the much smaller pilot chute, ESA said.<\/p>\n<p>Read our earlier story on the ExoMars parachute testing.<\/p>\n<p>Two more parachute tests are planned later this year and in early 2020. If both tests produce satisfactory results, ESA officials will give the green light to ship the ExoMars spacecraft to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final launch preparations.<\/p>\n<p>ESA says the launch window for the ExoMars lander and rover opens July 26, 2020, and runs for less than three weeks. If the mission misses next year\u2019s window, the next launch opportunity is in 2022.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_40204\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40204\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-40204\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Exomas_lander_platform.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Exomas_lander_platform.jpg 620w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Exomas_lander_platform-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-40204\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Russian-built landing platform for the ExoMars mission is named Kazachok, Russian for \u201clittle Cossack.\u201d Credit: Roscosmos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ExoMars program consists of two parts.<\/p>\n<p>The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter launched in March 2016 on a Russian Proton rocket and is now surveying the Martian atmosphere with suite of scientific instruments to search for methane, and a camera to map changes on the planet\u2019s surface. The Trace Gas Orbiter launched aboard a Russian Proton rocket in tandem with a landing craft named Schiaparelli, which crashed on the Red Planet on final descent.<\/p>\n<p>Like its orbiter precursor, the second ExoMars mission will launch on a Russian Proton booster from Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<p>After landing, the Russian descent stage will remain operational as a stationary lander platform \u2014 named Kazachok, Russian for \u201clittle Cossack\u201d \u2014 to conduct its own scientific measurements, while the European rover will drive several kilometers and drill to a depth of 2 meters (6.6 feet) to collect core samples for analysis in the mobile robot\u2019s on-board laboratory.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists have never studied material from so deep below the Martian surface, where biomarkers and organic molecules could survive from life forms that may have inhabited the planet when it was warmer and wetter billions of years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Email<i style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> the author.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The completed ExoMars rover, named \u201cRosalind Franklin,\u201d is lifted in preparation for shipment from an Airbus facility in Stevenage, England. Credit: Max Alexander\/Airbus The European Space Agency\u2019s ExoMars rover left its Airbus factory in Britain on Wednesday, heading for a round of testing in France before integration with its carrier and descent modules on pace [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1657,1601,831,2297,2298,2188,2300,367],"class_list":["post-12975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-airbus-defense-and-space","tag-baikonur-cosmodrome","tag-european-space-agency","tag-exomars","tag-exomars-2020","tag-italy","tag-kazachok","tag-mars"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}