The ExoMars mission will see Rosalind Franklin the rover and its surface platform Kazachok land on the Red Planet in 2021. From fine-grained soil to large <br /><br />boulders and slopes, the rover has to be able to move across many types of terrain, collect samples with a 2 m-long drill and analyse them with instruments <br /><br />in its onboard laboratory.<br /><br />This second episode about ExoMars features the challenges of leaving the surface platform, overcoming obstacles and walking on dunes.<br /><br />ESA, Roscosmos, Thales, Airbus and RUAG engineers put a full-sized model through a series of tests to fine-tune how the rover will move from its landing <br /><br />platform onto the martian terrain.<br /><br />Rovers on Mars have previously been caught in sand, and turning the wheels dug them deeper – just like a car stuck in mud or snow. To avoid this, Rosalind <br /><br />the rover has a unique locomotion mode called ‘wheel walking’.<br /><br />More information on ExoMars: http://www.esa.int/exomars<br /><br />Credit/Courtesy: ESA
