ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Mission (RFM) Update

Introduction: The European Space Agency’s ExoMars was conceived to search for signs of life on Mars. The design of the mission puts the science team in the best possible condition to search for biosignatures, using:

• a 2-m depth drill;
• the suite of 8 scientific instruments in the Pasteur Payload;
• the selected landing site, Oxia Planum, and;
• 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 a re-establishment of the ExoMars 2022 mission [1]. With European industrial prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, and important contributions from partner, NASA.  RFM is on schedule for launch in the latter part of 2028 and to land at Oxia Planum in 2030.

Figure 1: The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover. Credit ESA/MLabspace

Pasteur Payload: The heart of the characterisation and analysis capabilities of the Rosalind Franklin Rover lies in the suite of complementary scientific instruments that comprise the Pasteur Payload. At macroscopic scales, the PanCam investigation [2], with its wide-angle multispectral stereo camera (WAC), and narrow-angle, high-resolution camera (HRC), working together with NavCam and LocCam navigation cameras, constitutes the eyes of the rover. An infrared spectrometer, Enfys [3], will reveal 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 comprises an IR spectrometer head near the drill tip and will allow reconstruction of mineralogical stratigraphy in drilled boreholes [6]. In the rover’s Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD), the MicrOmega imaging Visible/IR spectrometer [7], 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), work together to determine the mineralogy and organic composition of crushed samples.

Science Team Activities: The ExoMars Science Working Team (ESWT), ExoMars project, and industrial partners are nearing completion of refurbishment of the rover and its instruments. The ExoMars Rover Science Operations Working Group (RSOWG), chartered in 2019 by the ESWT, continues working to advance science readiness. The ‘Micro’ sub-group addresses topics regarding the spatial scale of the samples that will be extracted from down to 2m depth by the rover’s drill, their terrestrial analogues, and plans for their analyses, including by the three ALD instruments. Ongoing work regards the ‘Mission Reference Samples’ – a suite of natural and synthetic analogue samples most relevant to the landing site and mission objectives, which are under characterization by ground models of all the Pasteur Payload instruments. A set of geotechnical analyses are led by an Interdisciplinary Scientist (IDS) team focussing on sub-surface investigations [10], to maximize retrieval of information from drill telemetry in concert with visible images from CLUPI [4] and PanCam [2], infrared spectra from Ma_Miss [6] and information from the WISDOM radar [5].

Members of the ‘Macro’ sub-group continue geological interpretation of the landing site [e.g. [11], [12]] and continue to build interpretations from the published a high-fidelity geological map of Oxia Planum [13], the culmination of a 4-year team effort [14]. A dedicated co-author team is preparing the mission Strategic Science Plan (SSP), which traces mission science objectives to specific questions and hypotheses that are testable by Pasteur Payload instruments. Further, a Science Sampling Strategy (S3) is in development to provide tools for the science team to implement the priorities of the SSP into daily rover operations [15].

The European Entry Descent and Landing Module (EDLM) is in advanced development and will deliver the Rosalind Franklin rover to Oxia Planum. The module contains sensor packages that will support EDL and environmental characterisation at the surface for the time that the platform is operational after landing. Amongst them are the COMARS+ suite (Combined Aerothermal and Radiometer Sensors Instrument Package), four visible wavelength cameras for imaging the descent; and the Platform Atmospheric Characterisation Instrument Suite (PACIS), installed on the lander, which contains atmospheric pressure and temperature sensors, and a microphone. Telemetry from various sensors used during EDL supports the ExoMars Atmospheric Mars Entry and Landing Investigations and Analysis (AMELIA) team [16].

Continued Preparations for Operations: The Rover Operations Control Centre (ROCC, Turin) is maintained and updated, while continuing to host a schedule of tests and simulations, providing regular opportunities to exercise Science and Control Team processes. A Science Knowledge Management Programme (SKP) continues to support key expertise within the science and instrument teams, to retain and develop valuable team knowledge and experience that was built in preparation for the 2022 mission opportunity [17]. Preparations are well underway for rover field trials, to be held in 2026 and 2027 at a Mars analogue site, using a testbed rover and emulators of survey instruments, and building on experience from prior field tests [18], [19].

This presentation will explain how ESA, supported by industry and the payload teams and with our NASA partners, remains on track for a 2028 launch of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Mission. We will present the current level of advancement of the project and highlight the main science objectives and overall strategic plan for the mission.

References:

[1]       J. L. Vago et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1533.

[2]       A. J. Coates et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1548.

[3]       A. Coates et al., Jul. 03, 2024. doi: 10.5194/epsc2024-927.

[4]       J.-L. Josset et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1546.

[5]       V. Ciarletti et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1532.

[6]       M. C. De Sanctis et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1541.

[7]       J.-P. Bibring et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1642.

[8]       F. Rull et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1567.

[9]       F. Goesmann et al., Astrobiology, doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1551.

[10]     F. Altieri et al., Adv. Space Res., doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2023.01.044.

[11]     I. T. Auré et al., Icarus, doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2026.117113.

[12]     J. D. Mcneil et al., JGRP, doi: 10.1029/2022JE007246.

[13]     P. Fawdon et al., J. Maps, doi: 10.1080/17445647.2024.2302361.

[14]     E. Sefton-Nash et al., LPSC#52, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021LPI....52.1947S

[15]     F. Ferri et al., Space Sci. Rev., doi: 10.1007/s11214-019-0578-x.

[16]     E. Sefton-Nash et al., LPSC2022, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022LPICo2678.2109S/abstract

[17]     G. Ligeza, et al., Mars Through Time Int. Conf. https://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/mtt2025/abstracts/Ligeza.pdf

[18]     M. R. Balme et al., Planet. Space Sci., doi: 10.1016/j.pss.2018.12.003.

[19]     M. Balme et al., EPSC 2020, doi: 10.5194/epsc2020-1073.