ESA ExoMars rover

View: https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1595419793431343105


Aschbacher: exploration budget includes funding for ISS operations, EL3 lunar cargo lander, and ExoMars. Expect NASA to contribute to ExoMars launcher, braking engine and RHUs (radioisotope heating units.)
View: https://twitter.com/bbcamos/status/1595402742016638976


Rosalind Franklin. Fully funded. €360m. To start work on a landing system. #CM23

Good news, now get the rover to Mars.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91dW9pUA1BI

That brings back memories siegecrossbow.
 
Aschbacher said Wednesday that European ministers considered a number of options, including simply putting the completed Rosalind Franklin rover into a museum. However, in the end, ministers decided that they would invest hundreds of millions of more euro into the project for Europe to develop its own entry, descent, and lander module for the vehicle.

"I am very glad to say that we have found a positive way forward," Aschbacher said. "Europe will take responsibility, and a majority of the work will be done with European technology."

NASA, he said, is expected to contribute a rocket for the mission, an engine for the descent module with adjustable thrust, and radioactive heating units. This exchange will be done via barter. So, for example, in exchange for a rocket launch, Europe might provide an Airbus Beluga aircraft to transport large cargo.

The mission now has a launch date of no earlier than 2028, Aschbacher said. At this time, the only available US rocket capable of boosting the mission is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster, but the competition for the launch vehicle will not be held for a couple of years. At that time United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket and SpaceX's Starship may be options, as well as Blue Origin's New Glenn vehicle.

What's more, the science that Rosalind Franklin will do is still seen as compelling.
The robot will look for signs of life on Mars, and will carry a drill to try to find it up to 2m below the planet's surface. If biology does still exist, this is where researchers would expect it to be found - underground.
"Rosalind Franklin is a huge project," said UK science minister George Freeman.
"It's a Mars rover built in the UK. We now need to finalise the propulsion and landing system, and there are major supply chain opportunities for British companies in this.
"Think about it - we will be at the forefront of that signal coming back from Mars about the origins of life. You can't get more exciting, more inspiring, and more cutting-edge than that."
 
Aschbacher said Wednesday that European ministers considered a number of options, including simply putting the completed Rosalind Franklin rover into a museum. However, in the end, ministers decided that they would invest hundreds of millions of more euro into the project for Europe to develop its own entry, descent, and lander module for the vehicle.

"I am very glad to say that we have found a positive way forward," Aschbacher said. "Europe will take responsibility, and a majority of the work will be done with European technology."

NASA, he said, is expected to contribute a rocket for the mission, an engine for the descent module with adjustable thrust, and radioactive heating units. This exchange will be done via barter. So, for example, in exchange for a rocket launch, Europe might provide an Airbus Beluga aircraft to transport large cargo.

The mission now has a launch date of no earlier than 2028, Aschbacher said. At this time, the only available US rocket capable of boosting the mission is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster, but the competition for the launch vehicle will not be held for a couple of years. At that time United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket and SpaceX's Starship may be options, as well as Blue Origin's New Glenn vehicle.

What's more, the science that Rosalind Franklin will do is still seen as compelling.
The robot will look for signs of life on Mars, and will carry a drill to try to find it up to 2m below the planet's surface. If biology does still exist, this is where researchers would expect it to be found - underground.
"Rosalind Franklin is a huge project," said UK science minister George Freeman.
"It's a Mars rover built in the UK. We now need to finalise the propulsion and landing system, and there are major supply chain opportunities for British companies in this.
"Think about it - we will be at the forefront of that signal coming back from Mars about the origins of life. You can't get more exciting, more inspiring, and more cutting-edge than that."

Any idea as to what rocket will be tasked with the launching of the Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars? I cannot see it being the Ariane 6 that is for sure.
 
ESA’s ExoMars plans depend on NASA contributions

An industry source, speaking on background, said the launch will be the most expensive contribution, with the overall NASA contribution likely on the order of a couple hundred million dollars. NASA is expected, in turn, to seek opportunities for U.S. scientists to participate on ExoMars in exchange for that contribution.
Aschbacher said at the briefing that those planned NASA contributions were pending an agreement yet to be finalized between the agencies. “Their contribution still needs to be confirmed because they waited for our decision today,” he said.

NASA has not publicly commented on its plans for ExoMars since the ministerial meeting, and an agency spokesperson did not respond to questions Nov. 23 about NASA’s plans for the mission.

 

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