The European Space Agency (ESA) is spearheading the mission, responsible for the spacecraft, including the carrier module, landing platform, and the rover’s activities on Mars.
NASA’s contribution involves providing vital hardware and services through the ROSA project. This encompasses launch support, braking engines essential for landing, and radioisotope heater units to maintain the rover’s functionality in Mars’s frigid conditions.
Additionally, NASA will supply a mass spectrometer to analyze samples gathered from underground, searching for organic molecules — the fundamental building blocks of life.
The rover is set to land in an area known as Oxia Planum, which scientists think may have once held water.
The collaboration between the two agencies was strengthened in 2024 when they signed an agreement to enhance work on the mission.
“Later that year, the KDP-A/B review authorized the commencement of ROSA’s formulation start in Phase B, and the project successfully fulfilled all success criteria of its Preliminary Design Review,” stated NASA.
NASA has selected Falcon Heavy, developed by SpaceX, for the launch, scheduled to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The current aim is to launch no earlier than late 2028.
What Makes Rosalind Franklin Unique Among Mars Rovers
The Rosalind Franklin rover is designed to drill much deeper than any previous Martian rover.
Tests with a twin model of the rover on Earth have proven that it can drill to depths of around 1.7 meters. Scientists anticipate that this capability could enable access to well-preserved organic material dating back roughly four billion years, when Mars resembled early Earth in its conditions.
Who Is Rosalind Franklin?
The rover is named in honor of Rosalind Franklin, a groundbreaking British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose contributions were vital in revealing the structure of DNA.
Her renowned X-ray diffraction image, known as Photo 51, provided essential evidence that helped scientists identify the double-helix structure of DNA — a pivotal breakthrough that revolutionized the understanding of genetic information storage and transmission.
