ESA ExoMars rover

siegecrossbow said:
FighterJock said:
Flyaway said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1595419793431343105
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.)
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1595402742016638976
View: https://twitter.com/bbcamos/status/1595402742016638976


Rosalind Franklin. Fully funded. €360m. To start work on a landing system. #CM23
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Good news, now get the rover to Mars.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91dW9pUA1BI
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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.
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arstechnica.com

The long, tangled journey of a European rover to Mars takes another twist

I am very glad to say that we have found a positive way forward."
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

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."
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www.bbc.co.uk

UK-built Mars rover saved from museum retirement

A big financial rescue package will now see Europe's Red Planet robot get a mission after all.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
Flyaway said:
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.
Click to expand...
arstechnica.com

The long, tangled journey of a European rover to Mars takes another twist

I am very glad to say that we have found a positive way forward."
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

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."
Click to expand...
www.bbc.co.uk

UK-built Mars rover saved from museum retirement

A big financial rescue package will now see Europe's Red Planet robot get a mission after all.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
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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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spacenews.com

ESA’s ExoMars plans depend on NASA contributions - SpaceNews

While ESA has secured funding to continue the ExoMars mission for a 2028 launch, that plan requires cooperation with NASA that has yet to be finalized.
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 
About time too, at least the contract has now been signed. Next stop chosing a suitable landing site and then getting the rover to Mars. :cool:
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1777693794164514859
View: https://twitter.com/spacegovuk/status/1777693794164514859


@ESA_ExoMars
Episode 1 – Scouting the Red Planet.

Follow the adventures of the #RosalindFranklin rover as it begins its mission on Mars in 2030. Its wheels are made for walking, and its eyes for science.

Watch the first chapter of Europe’s ambitious exploration journey to search for past and present signs of life on Mars.

blogs.esa.int

Scouting the Red Planet

Tweet The interplanetary journey between Earth and Mars typically takes nine months. However, this mission will use a longer trajectory that takes two years to make sure that the rover touches down at the beginning of spring and receives plenty of sunlight on its solar panels. This episode...
blogs.esa.int blogs.esa.int
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ESA_ExoMars

@ESA_ExoMars
Episode 1 – Scouting the Red Planet.

Follow the adventures of the #RosalindFranklin rover as it begins its mission on Mars in 2030. Its wheels are made for walking, and its eyes for science.

Watch the first chapter of Europe’s ambitious exploration journey to search for past and present signs of life on Mars.

blogs.esa.int

Scouting the Red Planet

Tweet The interplanetary journey between Earth and Mars typically takes nine months. However, this mission will use a longer trajectory that takes two years to make sure that the rover touches down at the beginning of spring and receives plenty of sunlight on its solar panels. This episode...
blogs.esa.int blogs.esa.int
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NASA and ESA have reached a formal agreement on continuing ExoMars. Looks like one stipulation is that since the US is giving the plutonium, the launch must be by a US launcher. NASA probably owe ESA after screwing them over in 2011by pulling out of an agreement leaving ESA hanging.

spacenews.com

NASA and ESA complete agreement for cooperation on Mars rover mission

NASA and ESA have completed an agreement under which NASA will provide hundreds of millions of dollars of support for a European Mars rover mission.
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 
Brilliant news and about time too for ExoMars NASA and ESA reaching a formal agreement is a step forward. All they need to do now is to fund the mission.
 
www.nature.com

Mars rover mission will use pioneering nuclear power source

The radioactive unit will help to deliver Europe’s first Mars rover to the planet’s surface.
www.nature.com www.nature.com

link.springer.com

European Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) and Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) for Space Science and Exploration - Space Science Reviews

Radioisotope power systems utilising americium-241 as a source of heat have been under development in Europe as part of a European Space Agency funded programme since 2009. The aim is to develop all of the building blocks that would enable Europe to launch and operate deep space and planetary...
link.springer.com link.springer.com
 
Airbus wins contract for ExoMars lander platform

WASHINGTON — Airbus Defence and Space will build the landing platform for the European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover, replacing a critical component originally to be provided by Russia.

Airbus announced late March 28 (Eastern time) that it was selected by ESA and Thales Alenia Space, the prime contractor for the mission, to build the landing platform for that rover mission, scheduled to launch in 2028.
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Airbus did not disclose the value of the contract, but the U.K. government stated it was worth £150 million ($194 million). ESA awarded a contract worth 522 million euros ($565 million) to Thales Alenia Space in April 2024 to restart work on the mission, which was paused in March 2022 weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was to provide the landing platform as well as launch the mission on a Proton rocket.
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spacenews.com

Airbus wins contract for ExoMars lander platform

Airbus Defence and Space will build the landing platform for ESA’s ExoMars rover, replacing a critical component originally to be provided by Russia.
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 
At last ExoMars is at last moving forward in the right direction, good news for Airbus winning the contract for the lander platform.
 
Then there are the international partnerships, which have treated the ExoMars program so badly.

The Trump administration is poised to push NASA's exploration program to focus on Mars, and that will likely entail sending SpaceX Starships to the red planet with increasing frequency. SpaceX is aiming for the 2026 launch window for Mars and certainly will be targeting one or more Starships for late 2028. Will NASA, citing redundancy with Starship missions, pull the plug on ExoMars again?

With ExoMars, the only certainty is to expect the unexpected.
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arstechnica.com

Europe’s quest to finally land on Mars takes another turn

Nearly 20 years have passed since the European Space Agency committed to ExoMars.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
 
Flyaway said:
arstechnica.com

Europe’s quest to finally land on Mars takes another turn

Nearly 20 years have passed since the European Space Agency committed to ExoMars.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
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Nearly two decades have passed since the European Space Agency formally committed to funding the ExoMars mission at a ministerial meeting in December 2005.
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I don't understand why a society which is as old and established as Europe remains unable to catch up with this comparatively young upstart adolescent of a society that I live in, the USA.

(or is "Europe" not one society but rather a cobbled together patchwork of egos and self-interests that's just barely hidden under a thin and thinning veneer of expediency?)
 
southwestforests said:
I don't understand why a society which is as old and established as Europe remains unable to catch up with this comparatively young upstart adolescent of a society that I live in, the USA.

(or is "Europe" not one society but rather a cobbled together patchwork of egos and self-interests that's just barely hidden under a thin and thinning veneer of expediency?)
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We don't want to catch up, thank you. USA is not a model, but a dead-end (wich will unfortunately kill all of mankind).
 
FY 2026 BUDGET TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT [May 30]

Elsewhere in planetary science, NASA will continue development of high-priority missions such as Dragonfly and the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, while ceasing support for the Rosalind Franklin Rover, DAVINCI, VERITAS, EnVision, OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer, and Juno missions.

All 2026 budget request documents
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Not sure if this would kill the rover project, but it would certainly be a very severe setback. With the project’s history it feels like it’s cursed.
 
BROF said:
We don't want to catch up, thank you. USA is not a model, but a dead-end (wich will unfortunately kill all of mankind).
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Whose wars have killed the most people?
 

NASA budget cuts threaten Europe's already troubled flagship Mars rover​

ESA refused to comment on the situation, but sources familiar with the development told Space.com that although technical capabilities to replace the missing elements exist in Europe, the "launch clock is ticking" and a delay beyond 2030 would be likely. That could result in further complications as some aspects of the mission might have to change as the alignment between Earthand Mars that takes place about every two years doesn't always occur at the same distance.


"If there is a delay which means missing the 2028 launch window, a concern is that the approach and entry, descent and landing requirements for a 2031 launch and its selected landing site will be different," one source said. "So, a delay by about 26 months might not immediately solve the mission's problems."
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…

Europe currently doesn't have a rocket capable of sending a spacecraft to Mars, although two sources told Space.com that the more powerful version of Ariane 6 could be capable of that, even though it might require some tweaks to accommodate the payload. Ariane 6 has so far launched twice, both times in its less powerful two-booster configuration.
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…

One source told Space.com that while ESA has begun looking into the development of throttleable retrorockets and radioisotope heater units, neither of these projects is currently on track to produce flight-ready hardware within the needed timescale.


Many in the European Mars science community keep hoping that the U.S. Congress, which will ultimately decide about the NASA budget, thwarts the cuts.


"I still believe we will be drilling on Mars before I retire, and I am not 25 anymore," another source told Space.com.
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www.space.com

NASA budget cuts threaten Europe's already troubled flagship Mars rover

NASA was to supply some critical technologies for the mission, which Europe may not be able to readily replace.
www.space.com www.space.com
 
ExoMars parachute high-altitude drop test

Jul 21, 2025
The most complex parachute system to ever deploy on Mars has successfully slowed down an ExoMars mock-up landing platform for a safe touchdown on Earth.

A stratospheric helium balloon lifted a dummy descent module and released it above the Arctic Circle at an altitude of nearly 30 km, triggering the deployment of two large parachutes from their doughnut bags.

This high-altitude drop test campaign took place at the Swedish Space Corporation’s Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, northern Sweden, on 7 July.

To match the combination of density and speed that the capsule will experience when diving into the thin martian atmosphere – about 1% of the density of Earth's atmosphere at sea level – the balloon had to fly very high.

The ExoMars parachutes dropped from an altitude of 29 km, or about three times the altitude where commercial aircraft cruise.

The dummy capsule then went into free-fall for about 20 seconds, reaching almost the speed of sound, before deploying the parachutes in turn.

Landing on Mars is a high-risk endeavour. In just six minutes, the descent module has to decelerate from 21 000 km/h at the top of the planet’s atmosphere to a soft landing to keep its precious cargo, the Rosalind Franklin rover, fit for surface exploration.

The first stage main parachute is 15 m-wide. The second stage main parachute is 35 m-wide and it is formed from a series of rings with gaps in between them. This will be the largest parachute to ever fly on Mars or anywhere in the Solar System besides Earth.

Credit: ESA/SSC/Vorticity
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31mEiv6eCPk
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2013885266499428783
View: https://x.com/esaspaceflight/status/2013885266499428783?s=20

[/quote]

Legs made for a Mars landing  [Jan 21]

For over a month, Thales Alenia Space and Airbus teams ran dozens of vertical drops using a full-scale model of the landing platform at the ALTEC facilities in Turin, Italy. While Thales Alenia Space is the industrial lead of the mission, Airbus provides the landing platform and ALTEC offers technical support.

The lightweight, deployable legs are interconnected and equipped with shock absorbers to withstand impact. During the test campaign, the four legs replicated the structure and dimensions of those that will fly to Mars.  

Considering every possible landing scenario, teams are preparing for what would happen if the spacecraft touched down at an angle or on top of a rock.  

“The last thing you want is for the platform to tip over when it reaches the martian surface. These tests will confirm its stability at landing,” says Benjamin Rasse, ESA’s team leader for the ExoMars descent module.

Sensing the ground 
Another goal of the campaign is to verify the performance of the touchdown sensors. A system installed in all four legs detects when the spacecraft approaches the surface and triggers the shutdown of the descent engines after a soft landing.  

However, the spacecraft needs some time to switch off its motors upon landing. If the sensors take too long to communicate with the propulsion system, the rocket plumes could blast martian soil upwards and damage the platform, potentially even overturning it. 

“We want to reduce the switch-off time to the blink of an eye, to no more than 200 milliseconds after touchdown. We are pleased to report that these critical sensors are performing well within the limits for a safe landing,” explains Benjamin.  

Pounding for Mars 
Over a dozen vertical drops, the team changed the speed and height of the falls by a few centimetres. 

This first series of tests involved dropping the model onto both hard and soft surfaces, the latter filled with powdery, Mars-like soil.  

The chemical composition of the grains is similar to the sandy soil found on the Red Planet, and the same used for testing the mobility of the Rosalind Franklin rover.  

More drops for Rosalind
Over the coming months, the platform will drop onto a sledge at higher speeds to test its stability in case of a tilted landing. This new configuration requires safety upgrades at the test facility for the personnel running the campaign.  

High-speed camera recordings and measurements from the sensors, accelerometers and lasers installed on the mock-up will feed into a computer model of the ExoMars lander and its legs.   

The team will then use an algorithm to simulate landing scenarios on Mars and confirm the module’s stability in the countdown to launch, currently set for 2028
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3uEDeAjQ6w
 
It will now launch in 2028 on a FH.

NASA Begins Implementation for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Mission to Mars

NASA has given approval for the agency’s Rosalind Franklin Support and Augmentation (ROSA) project to begin implementation, underscoring the agency’s continued partnership with ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosalind Franklin mission. The mission is led by ESA and that agency is responsible for providing the spacecraft, including the carrier module, the landing platform, as well as the rover and surface operations.

Scheduled to launch in 2028, Rosalind Franklin will be the first Mars rover to search for signs of past or present life under the Red Planet’s surface. The ROSA project will provide designated hardware and services to ESA in support of the Rosalind Franklin mission, including the launch service, braking engines for the rover’s lander platform, and radioisotope heater units for the rover’s internal systems. The project also includes specialized electronics and a state-of-the-art mass spectrometer for the Mars organic molecule analyzer science instrument, which will search for the building blocks of life in samples collected at the rover’s landing site, Mars’ Oxia Planum.

In early 2024, NASA and ESA signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalizing an agreement to expand NASA’s work on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover. Later that year, the KDP-A/B review approved ROSA’s formulation start in Phase B, and the project successfully passed all the success criteria of its Preliminary Design Review.

NASA has selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the Rosalind Franklin mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is targeting opportunities to launch no earlier than late 2028.

NASA’s Launch Services Program manages the launch service for this international effort and the agency competitively awarded the firm‑fixed‑price launch service task order under the indefinite‑delivery/indefinite‑quantity NASA Launch Services II contract.
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science.nasa.gov

NASA Begins Implementation for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Mission to Mars - NASA Science

NASA has given approval for the agency’s Rosalind Franklin Support and Augmentation (ROSA) project to begin implementation, underscoring the agency’s
science.nasa.gov science.nasa.gov
 
Falcon Heavy was chosen because NASA agreed to provide the lander and launch vehicle after ESA discontinued working with the Russians and F9 doesn't have the performance.
 

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