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ESA EXOMARS MISSION

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AEP

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ESA EXOMARS MISSION

Due to reach Mars in 2015, ESA's ExoMars mission will include a Mars rover contained within a Descent Module, and possibly an orbiter.  The Descent Module will deliver the rover to a specific location on the surface, using an inflatable braking device or parachute system.

The Pasteur science package on the rover will include a variety of instruments to characterise Martian geochemistry and water distribution, and to search for traces of past and present life on and underneath the surface.  The rover will travel up to 100 metres per day.  It will have a stereoscopic camera system on a folding mast, and solar arrays to generate electricity.  It will also include an arm for sample collection and a drilling system that will reach two metres below the surface, where scientists believe evidence of life (if any) is most likely to exist.

ExoMars will also include instruments to identify surface hazards to future human missions.
 

A proposed ExoMars rover chassis design undergoing mobility trials in the El Tiede National Park, Tenerife.  The "breadboard" (BB) chassis has been affectionately named Bridget after another celebrity with the same initials.

UK scientists and engineers are leading the development of several of ExoMars's science instruments, including the Advanced Environmental Package (AEP), Panoramic Camera System (PanCam), Raman/Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy instrument (Raman-LIBS), UV-VIS Spectrometer (UVIS) and the Urey experiment.

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