WASHINGTON, May 16, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) announced
Thursday they signed an agreement to expand NASA's work on the
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, an ESA-led mission launching in
2028 that will search for signs of ancient life on the Red
Planet.
With this memorandum of understanding, the NASA Launch Services
Program will procure a U.S. commercial launch provider for the
Rosalind Franklin rover. The agency will also provide heater units
and elements of the propulsion system needed to land on Mars. A new
instrument on the rover will be the first drill to a depth of up to
6.5 feet (2 meters) deep below the surface to collect ice samples
that have been protected from surface radiation and extreme
temperatures.
"The Rosalind Franklin rover's unique drilling capabilities and
onboard samples laboratory have outstanding scientific value for
humanity's search for evidence of past life on Mars," said
Nicola Fox, associate administrator,
Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "NASA supports the Rosalind
Franklin mission to continue the strong partnership between
the United States and Europe to explore the unknown in our solar
system and beyond."
Through an existing, separate partnership with the German
Aerospace Center (DLR) and the French space agency CNES (Centre
National d'Etudes Spatiales), NASA is contributing key components
to the Rosalind Franklin rover's primary science instrument, the
Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, that will search for the building
blocks of life in the soil samples.
NASA has a longstanding partnership with the Department of
Energy to use radioisotope power sources on the agency's space
missions and will be partnering again with the Energy Department
for the use of lightweight radioisotope heater units for the rover.
The Rosalind Franklin rover mission complements the Mars Sample
Return multi-mission campaign led by both agencies.
For more information on NASA's research on Mars, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mars
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SOURCE NASA