ExoMars was supposed to be a joint Europe-Russia mission. But the rover will now be sent to Mars using a European lander instead.
Space missions get scuppered for all kinds of reasons, from engineering problems to budget issues. But the ExoMars mission, Europe and Russia’s joint plan to send a rover to Mars, faced a complicated political and ethical issue when Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
While ESA estimates it will take at least three to four years to build a new lander, the rover itself has been close to ready for a long time. It was originally scheduled for launch in 2020 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, then for launch in 2022 which was delayed due to the invasion of Ukraine. Now engineers are continuing to test the rover along with its twin, Amalia, recently putting it through a drilling test in a simulated martian environment.
The twin rover was able to take a sample, use its imager to take close-up photos of the sample, and crush the sample into powder for scientific analysis. This test shows that the rover itself is looking in good shape, but the whole process of designing and building a lander for the rover still needs to be addressed.
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