The ExoMars mission foresees Rosalind Franklin the rover and its surface platform Kazachok landing on the Red Planet in 2021. The rover will move across <br /><br />many types of terrain, collect samples with a 2 m-long drill and analyse them with instruments in its onboard laboratory.<br /><br />This episode about ExoMars shows the integration of the locomotion system and the science payload to the rover in a specially designed, fit-for-purpose <br /><br />cleanroom at Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, United Kingdom.<br /><br />Mars is a primary target in the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life, past or present. There are stringent planetary protection requirements in <br /><br />place to make sure that ExoMars does not introduce terrestrial biological contamination to the Red Planet. ESA ensures planetary protection according to <br /><br />the legal obligations of the United Nations Outer Space Treaty.<br /><br />Microbiological contamination is strictly controlled during the assembly of the rover. The cleanroom is amongst the cleanest places on Earth, cleaner than <br /><br />a standard hospital operating theatre thanks to filtered air, application of rigorous cleanliness procedures and workers who remain fully shrouded within <br /><br />‘bunny suits’.<br /><br />The rover spent 18 months at Stevenage before departing for Airbus Toulouse, France at the end of August, for four months of environmental testing to <br /><br />confirm it is ready for the conditions on Mars.<br /><br />http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars<br /><br />Credit/Courtesy: ESA - European Space Agency
