On March 17, the European Space Agency (ESA)'s council and member states decided to suspend our mission.
. The results will hopefully complement those from Rosalind Franklin — which will examine deeper samples from a different and slightly older site, Oxia Planum, where there is also abundant evidence of a watery past.Russia was meant to help launch Rosalind Franklin on one of its rockets. While a European-built spacecraft would then take it to Mars, a Russian-built platform would again be needed to land it.
Now, ESA is looking at options. Given that continuing with Russia in 2024 is most unlikely, the main possibilities are either ESA going it alone, or teaming up with a partner such as NASA. ESA's new , which is nearly ready, could help launch the rover, as could a SpaceX rocket. For the lander and heaters, ESA would need to develop these alone or in collaboration with NASA, by adapting existing technology.
It could therefore take time. What's more, because of the way the planets orbit the sun, there are opportunities for launches to Mars only every two years: in 2024, 2026 and so on. My expectation is that 2028 is most likely for our mission, but it will require hard work. The positive thing is that ESA and the member states are still keen to go ahead, and we are eagerly looking forward to the launch whenever that will be.
Ultimately, life changed for the Rosalind Franklin team on February 24. I've been working on the mission since 2003, when we first proposed a camera system for what became ExoMars. We had already provided the"stereo camera system" for ESA's ill-fated
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