Abstract EANA2026-91

From the very beginning, ExoMars was conceived to answer one question:  Was there ever life on the red planet?  All design decisions have focused and continue to centre on the achievement of this scientific goal.  It is particularly the case for the Rosalind Franklin rover. Putting the science team in the best condition to search for physical and chemical biosignatures has led to:

1. The need for a 2-m depth drill.
2. The choice of payload.
3. The requirements for the science potential and age of the landing site.
4. The surface exploration strategy that guides how the rover and instruments are used together to achieve the mission objectives.

The Rosalind Franklin Mission (RFM) is an evolution of the ExoMars 2022 mission [1], in partnership with NASA.  RFM is on schedule for launch in the latter part of 2028 and landing at Oxia Planum in 2030.

This presentation will describe the current level of advancement of the mission.

The Rover’s Pasteur Payload:

Rosalind Franklin’s Pasteur Payload consists of eight highly integrated, complementary scientific instruments.  For macroscopic investigations, the rover relies on PanCam [2] — with a stereo pair of wide-angle multispectral cameras (WACs) and a narrow angle high-resolution camera (HRC), — and on the NavCam navigation cameras.  A newly developed infrared spectrometer “Enfys” [3] will study mineralogical signatures at targeted locations.  The CLUPI instrument [4] serves as a geologist’s hand-lens, allowing close-up characterization of surface lithologies.  The WISDOM ground penetrating radar [5] will reveal subsurface structures and survey potential drilling sites.  Ma_MISS is an IR spectrometer with an optical head near the drill tip to study the mineralogy of borehole walls [6].  In the rover’s Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD), the mineral and organic composition of samples obtained by the drill will be determined with the MicrOmega imaging IR spectrometer [7], the Raman Laser Spectrometer, RLS [8], and Mars Organic Molecule Analyser (MOMA) [9] (which combines gas-chromatography and laser desorption with a linear ion trap mass spectrometer).

The lander: 

The Entry Descent and Landing Module (EDLM) will deliver Rosalind Franklin to Oxia Planum.  The EDLM is instrumented with EDL sensors and a small environmental package for surface characterisation during the first few sols after landing.  The CoMars+ suite on the heat shield will measure pressure, thermal flux and radiometric data.  A set of four cameras will image the descent.  The Platform Atmospheric Characterisation Instrument Suite (PACIS) will monitor pressure, temperature, and sound with a microphone.  Additionally, telemetry from the Radar Doppler Altimeter (RDA) and the Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) will support the Atmospheric Mars Entry and Landing Investigations and Analysis (AMELIA) [10].

Project Activities: 

The ExoMars Science Working Team (ESWT), ExoMars project and industrial partners have established a programme for refurbishing the rover and its instruments, and for preserving science team expertise and knowledge. The revised mission timeline provides the Rover Science Operations Working Group (RSOWG) with time for further preparatory science, including of the Oxia Planum landing site [11][12][13] and its analogues.

References:

[1] J. L. Vago et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[2] A. J. Coates et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[3] A. J. Coates et al., in Europlan. Sci. Cong., Abs. 927 (2024)

[4] J.-L. Josset et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[5] V. Ciarletti et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[6] M. C. De Sanctis et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[7] J.-P. Bibring et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[8] F. Rull et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[9] F. Goesmann et al., Astrobiology 17 (2017)

[10] F. Ferri et al., Space Sci. Rev. 215 (2019)

[11] P. Fawdon, et al., J. of Maps 20 (2024)

[12] J. McNeil et al., Nature Geoscience 18, 124–132 (2025)

[13] I. Torres Aure et al., Icarus (2026)