Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Rosalind Franklin, the ExoMars 2020 Rover, Drill Deployed

Rosalind Franklin, the ExoMars 2020 Rover, Drill Deployed
Rosalind Franklin, the ExoMars 2020 Rover, Drill Deployed RIGHT ESA’s ExoMars rover, named Rosalind Franklin, is in final preparations for a July 2020 launch and March 2021 landing in Oxia Planum, where Martian rivers once flowed. Its goal is to search for signs of ancient life. In addition to cameras and spectrometers, Rosalind Franklin carries a drill that can penetrate as many as 2 meters beneath the surface to retrieve samples and deliver them to analytical laboratory instruments. In the artwork at right, the cover of the drill has been removed to show its internal workings. ESA/ATG medialab