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Credit: ESA / Airbus DS / Mullard / LATMOS Space Science Laboratory – Pierre and Marie Curie University / Open University / Imperial College / Museum of Natural History
The ExoFiT Mars robot test team will use a new model called "Charlie" to test hardware, software and scientific operations for the future ExoMars rover of the European Space Agency (ESA), which will seek to develop on Mars in 2021.
The team will train Charlie out of the landing gear, identify a geological outcrop and get to it, then sample the rock with his drill.
Graham Turnock, CEO of the UK Space Agency, said:
After Earth, Mars is the most habitable planet in the solar system. It is therefore an ideal destination to explore the possibility of life on other planets, as well as the history of ours.
These small steps to check the systems in Spain give us the certainty that ExoMars will realize what it was designed for. These tests and those to come will prepare our scientists and engineers for real operations. I am proud that British science and ingenuity are essential to the success of this mission.
During testing, the ExoFiT team will evaluate Charlie's individual systems, including:
- WISDOM ground penetration radar
- CLUPI close-up imager
- The Panoramic Camera Mast Imager (PanCam) provides 3D maps of the area around the rover and corer to collect underground samples identified by WISDOM.
Rigorous equipment testing and the development of best practices will help ensure the success of the mission with future Mars rovers.
Ben Dobke, Airbus project manager for ExoFiT, said:
Credit: STFC / Airbus DS / ESA RAL Space
One of the main objectives of ExoFiT is the establishment of effective remote scientific operations. This will allow the team of scientists and instrument engineers to practice manipulating and remotely interpreting data from mobile-mounted instruments. . It is designed as a model for developing the operational experience of ExoMars and future Mars robotic missions.
Charlie's remote control center will be housed in the STFC Harwell Mission Operations Center, with each science team having a remote instrument operator.
Dr. Rain Irshad, head of the autonomous systems group at STFC RAL Space, said:
It was a really exciting week. The Harwell team was working from limited information – we had created digital maps of the terrain for her and the data was being sent out every day by the mobile. From there, they had to decide where the rover should go and which instruments to use to get the most interesting science. This test was very similar to the way rovers are exploited on Mars
There will be a follow-up test in the Atacama Desert in Chile next year.
ExoFiT is an ESA-funded project, managed and implemented by Airbus Defense and Space, supported by the Mars Robot Exploration Program (MREP) as a technology development activity.
The future ExoMars rover will be the first of its kind to traverse the Martian surface and drill to determine if traces of life are buried underground, protected from the solar radiation that bombards the surface of the "red planet".
The United Kingdom is the second largest European contributor to the ExoMars mission, after investing 287 million euros in the mission and 14 million pounds in instruments.
Stevenage's Airbus Defense and Space is leading the construction of the rover while UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory is leading a key instrument called PanCam, a high-resolution 3D camera that will be used to observe terrain and rocks to detect signs of life.
The University of Leicester and Teledyne e2v are working on the Raman Spectrometer with STFC RAL Space providing some of the electronics including the data processing card.
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