Space scientists are preparing two sites for the ExoMars mobile rover to land on the Red Planet. The robotic rover will touch down the surface of Mars in 2021.
ExoMars program is the brainchild of the European Space Agency and the Russian Roscosmos State Corporation. People around the world have a huge expectation regarding this Red Planet mission. Frances Westhall, the head at the Center for Molecular Biophysics in Orleans, reveals two landing sites for the ExoMars mobile rover on Mars, Phys.org reported.
The final landing site between the two will be selected a few months before the launch of the ExoMars mobile rover in 2020. The best part is both the sites are covered with clay that will help the rover to search the traces of past life on Mars. In a word, the rover can easily navigate both the places.
Clay is one of the best elements that can preserve the organic matter. It is difficult to find the existence of life on Mars, but the presence of methane in the atmosphere of the Red Planet creates hope. Scientists think that in the past time single-celled microbes existed under the surface. Now the ExoMars mobile rover can bring a satisfactory result about it.
The ExoMars mobile rover is designed with wheels, legs and most importantly a drill. The robotic rover will cover almost seven or eight miles during a six-month period. It will execute eight excavations on Mars during this certain time frame.
According to Space.com, the ExoMars mobile rover will touch down either at Oxia Planum or at Mawrth Vallis. Both the locations are spotted at the northern hemisphere of Mars. These two spots bear the evidence of the past liquid water activity.
The scientists have already tried to create the same atmospheric conditions of the ancient Mars in the laboratory. It is checked that the ExoMars mobile rover can open the parachute at the proper time. People and scientists both are eagerly waiting to cherish the successful journey of the rover and the satisfactory outcome.