How is the UK helping the European Space Agency find life on Mars?

The ExoMars mission wasasks setone upof tohumanity’s addressmost onecompelling ofquestions: has life ever existed beyond Earth? To help answer it, the biggestEuropean spaceSpace scienceAgency questionscreated ofthe ourExoMars ageprogramme: –two tomissions understandworking whethertogether lifeto hasstudy existedMars elsewherefrom orbit and, in the Universe.

near future, from the planet’s surface. The EuropeanTrace SpaceGas Agency’sOrbiter Explorationis Programmealready establishedcircling theMars, ExoMarsstudying programme,the whichgases consistsin ofits twoatmosphere, missionswhile forthe thisRosalind purposeFranklin –rover inwill 2016investigate andthe 2022.planet’s surface.

TheThese missions will help answer important questions about Mars: what the Martianplanet environmentis andmade developof, technologieshow thatits willenvironment layhas thechanged foundationsover fortime, humanand explorationwhether beyondit lowmay Earthonce orbit.have Thesupported missionslife, areor inperhaps collaborationstill withdoes. Roscosmos,Data from the Russianmission Spacewill Agency.

Thealso mainsupport aimswider studies of ExoMarsMartian arechemistry toand examineenvironmental thescience geologicalto environmenthelp onus Marsunderstand andwhether searchhumans forcould evidenceonce ofday environmentsgo thatto mayMars.

Trace Gas Orbiter

ItThe willTrace alsoGas assistOrbiter (TGO) started orbiting Mars in preparing2016 forand otherbegan roboticscience missions,operations includingin a2018. MarsIt Samplehas Returnrelayed mission,more anddata possiblethan futureall humanother exploration.Mars Dataorbiters fromcombined, theincluding mission13 willmillion alsosquare providekilometres invaluableof inputmultispectral forimagery. broaderIt studiescontinues ofto martianstudy geochemistry,the environmentalMartian scienceatmosphere andtoday, exobiologyusing –four thescientific searchinstruments forto evidencedetect ofand lifeanalyse ontrace planetsgases. beyondThese Earth.

Ameasurements missionare helping scientists fill gaps in twoour parts

2016knowledge missionof intoMars and support the Martianplanning atmosphere

of future missions.

The 2016Trace missionGas concentratedOrbiter (TGO) focuses on orbitalobserving scienceMars observations,from particularlyits thoseorbit, oflooking for trace gases. It was especially on the methanelookout infor Mars’Methane, atmosphere,which firstwas detected by ESA’s Mars Express mission in 2003.

The presenceMethane ofis methaneinteresting inbecause, theon MartianEarth, atmosphereit couldcan suggestbe evidencelinked forto possibleboth biological orand geological activity.

Thisprocesses. firstOn missionMars, arrivedfinding withand twounderstanding elements–methane thecould Tracehelp Gasscientists Orbiterwork (TGO)out andwhether anthe Entry,planet descentis andstill landinggeologically Module,active, knownor aswhether Schiaparelli.it Thehas TGOever startedhad scientificconditions operationsassociated inwith Aprillife. 2018.

TheInterestingly, TGO carriedhasn’t fourrecorded scientificany instrumentsmethane toyet, detectbut andit studyhas atmosphericmade traceother gases,important suchdiscoveries asduring methane.its investigation.

The– UKa wasfinding involvedthat ingives thescientists developmentnew andclues deliveryabout ofthe oneplanet’s ofchemistry theseand instrumentswater calledcycle. NOMADDiscoveries withlike Drthis Manishmatter Patelbecause atthey thehelp Openus University.

Readunderstand abouthow theMars resultschanged ofover thistime, mission:

• Britishhow instrumentschallenging revealits secretssurface ofmay Martianbe sky
• Icefor onrobots Mars

2022

TGO (datealso postponed)discovered missionwater-ice ontoat thelow Martianlatitudes. surface

TheThat 2022matters (datebecause postponed,water pleaseis seeone latestof updatethe below)most roveruseful namedresources ‘Rosalindfor Franklin’,future willexplorers: beit devotedcould tobe studyturned geology,into geochemistryoxygen andto exobiology.breathe, Itfuel willfor searchjourneys, Mars’and surfacedrinking water for evidencethirsty ofastronauts. environmentsFinding thataccessible maywater-ice oncecould havetherefore supportedmake life,future andmissions mayto evenMars stillmore do so today.practical.

AsCrucially, theTGO’s firstCASSIS Europeancamera roverproduces tohigh-resolution traverseimagery the surface of Marsthe itwhole willplanet, uniquelyallowing drillus down to twocatch metresbreath-taking intoMartian theviews martianand surfacehelp allowingprepare thefor Rosalindfuture Franklinlandings rover’son scientificMars, instrumentsincluding tothe sampleRosalind andFranklin analyseRover themission. soil,High-resolution determineimaging itsenables mineralsafer contentlanding and composition,better andmission searchplanning.

Find forout evidencemore ofabout whetherthe pastTrace environmentsGas could once have harboured life.Orbiter

Rosalind theFranklin MartianRover

Whereas surfaceTGO byis usinglooking electricalat powerthe generatedMartian fromatmosphere, itsthe solarRosalind arrays.Franklin It’sRover softwaremission will havesearch aMars’ degreesurface offor ‘intelligence’evidence andof autonomyenvironments tothat makemay certainonce decisionshave onsupported thelife, ground and willmay navigateeven usingstill opticaldo sensors.so Ontoday.

As arrival of the Rosalindfirst FranklinEuropean inrover 2022,to traverse the orbitersurface willof relayMars, data from the roverRosalind backFranklin toRover Earth.

Thewill UKhave is the secondunique largestfeature contributorof tobeing theable ExoMarsto missiondrill withdown ato contributiontwo ofmeters €287into million.

How is the UKMartian involved?

Thesurface Rosalindto Franklinobtain roversamples. wasSamples builttaken byfrom Airbusbelow Defence and Space, at the company’ssurface UKare facilitybetter inprotected Stevenage,from UK.

Thethe roverharsh hasradiation beenthat namedaffects afterthe Rosalindsurface Franklin,soil. a The UKon-board scientistlaboratory andwill co-discovererdetermine of the structuresample’s ofmineral DNA.and ExoMarschemical iscontent theand firstcomposition to honoursearch afor womanevidence scientistof onpast itsor flagshippresent discovery craft.life.

SCISYSThe UKmission Ltdwill hasland beenin supporting the developmentOxia Planum region of theMars, Rosalindan Franklinarea roverwith on-boardancient, softwareclay-rich androcks itsdating autonomousback operations.

Rosalindaround Franklin3.9 roverbillion willyears. houseClay aminerals numberusually ofform scientificin instrumentsthe andpresence thereof iswater, considerableso UKthis involvementlanding fromsite gives scientists a numberpromising ofplace academicto institutionslook withfor theevidence on-boardthat roverMars instruments:

PanCam

The

How panoramicis camera (PanCam) system on the RosalindUK Franklininvolved?

The roverUK isplays UK-leda withmajor scientistsrole fromin Universityboth Collegeparts London’sof MullardExoMars, Spacefrom Sciencefunding Laboratoryand (MSSL)engineering workingto withresearch theand Universitymission ofoperations. Aberystwyth,That Birkbeckmeans College and the Universityprogramme ofis Leicester.not PanCamonly willa provideEuropean imagerymission ofto Mars’Mars, surfacebut thatalso willshows allowus reconstructionhow byUK 3-Dexpertise digitalare terrainhelping mapping.

Itto willanswer alsoa providequestion contextthat forcaptures drillimaginations samplingaround andthe rover instrumentation.world.

The wide-angleUK camerashas willinvested providearound stereo£490 informationmillion whileover the high-resolutionpast camera20 willyears, enablesupporting close-upover images200 ofhigh-skilled martianjobs structuresin andthe features.

RamanUK, LIBS

Thea Universityfurther of31 Leicester,UK Bradfordscientists Universityas andnamed STFCmission Rutherfordinstrument Appletonteam Laboratorymembers, areand keyover players100 UK scientists involved in the developmentprogramme ofmore thebroadly.

This CCDsupport camerahelps onfund the Ramanscience, Laserengineering Spectrometerand (Ramantechnology LIBS),whichthat canmake detect the presencemission ofpossible, chemicalfrom compoundsbuilding includingthe mineralsmissions and alsotheir specificinstruments typesto ofinvestigating “biomarkers”the –data chemicalsand indicativedelivering ofworld-class pastscientific orexcellence.

The presentRosalind lifeFranklin –rover thatis arebeing producedbuilt by primitiveAirbus micro-organismsDefence toand enableSpace, themat tothe adaptcompany’s toUK lifefacility in extremeStevenage, environments.UK.

The arerover well-knownis onnamed Earthafter andRosalind probablyFranklin, represent the mostUK likelyscientist formwhose ofwork lifewas thatcentral couldto haveunderstanding existedthe onstructure Mars.

Latestof Update

ESA’sDNA. rulingThe Councilname metconnects onthe 16-17mission’s Marchsearch 2022for inlife Parison andMars assessedwith thea situationscientist arisingwhose fromdiscoveries Russia’stransformed invasionour understanding of Ukrainelife regardingon ExoMars, and unanimously:Earth.

• acknowledged

  The theRosalind presentFranklin impossibilityrover ofwill carryinghouse outa thenumber ongoingof cooperationscientific withinstruments Roscosmosthat oneach thehave ExoMars rover mission with a launchspecific injob. 2022,Together, andthey mandatedwill help the ESArover Directorchoose Generalwhich rocks to takestudy, appropriateinvestigate stepstheir tochemistry, suspendand thebuild cooperationa activitiesdetailed accordingly;

• authorisedpicture of the ESAMartian Directorenvironment.

  There Generalis toconsiderable carryUK outinvolvement from a fast-tracknumber industrialof studyacademic toinstitutions betterfor define the availableinstruments optionson for a way forward to implement the ExoMarsRosalind roverFranklin mission

Rover:

PanCam

AlthoughThe thepanoramic 2022camera launchsystem, windowalso forknown theas missionPanCam, is noUK-led. longerScientists possible,from theUniversity mission’sCollege SystemLondon’s QualificationMullard andSpace FlightScience AcceptanceLaboratory Review(MSSL) tookare placeworking inwith Marchthe 2022.University Theof ReviewAberystwyth, BoardBirkbeck confirmedCollege, thatand the spacecraftUniversity wouldof haveLeicester. beenPanCam readywill fortake thedetailed shipmentimages toof the launchsurface, sitehelping andscientists thebuild programme3D hadmaps athat sufficientwill timehelp marginthem forchoose thewhere originalto launchdrill opportunityand openinghow onto 20get September 2022.there.

Due

Raman toLaser theSpectrometer

The suspensionUniversity of theLeicester, 2022Bradford launch,University, and the ExoMarsScience elementsand areTechnology nowFacilities beingCouncil’s preparedRutherford forAppleton storageLaboratory at(STFC aRAL) Thalesare Aleniakey Spacepartners site in Italy.

Thethe Reviewdevelopment Boardof membersthe specificallyRaman expressedLaser theirSpectrometer. appreciationThis instrument can identify minerals and thankschemical tocompounds thein reviewMartian teamsamples, forincluding thesome exhaustivebiomarkers work– performedchemicals overthat themay indicate past months.or present life.

Enfys

BasedAberystwyth onUniversity thein decisionWales, bytogether ESAwith MemberMSSL States at itsUCL, MarchSTFC CouncilRAL, meeting,and a fast-trackQioptiq industrialLtd studyin willSt nowAsaph, startDenbighshire, tois betterdeveloping define the availableinfrared optionsspectrometer for athe wayrover. forwardThe toinstrument implementis thecalled ExoMarsEnfys, rovermeaning mission‘Rainbow’ in aWelsh. futureEnfys launch.

Thewill teamsfurther willanalyse bewhat lookingmaterials forare in the earliestrocks, possiblewhich launchwill dependinghelp ondecide howwhere quicklythe technologiesrover canshould bego developed to supportdrill afor European-ledsamples.

Latest mission,Update

In orearly in2026, collaborationNASA withapproved otherthe internationalRosalind partners,Franklin Support and theAugmentation availabilityproject, ofknown compatibleas launchersROSA, which will provide hardware and launchservices site.