The quest for life on Mars will soon go deeper than ever before as the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover launches in 2028, deploying a robotic rover capable of drilling two meters below the Martian surface.
ESA operators on Earth will remotely control the rover across the Red Planet to collect evidence of organic compounds and bio-markers hidden underground, where they may remain shielded from harmful surface radiation. Researchers at the UK’s Aberystwyth led a major component of the project by designing the Enfys infrared spectrometer, which is now shipping off to Italy for field testing in a simulated Martian environment.
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover
The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is the first mission ever explicitly designed to look for evidence of past or present Martian life. Part of that design is recognizing that material below the harsh present-day Martian surface may be the best hope of finding such evidence. At a depth of two meters, the rover can collect samples that could date back as far as four billion years. At that time, Mars would have reflected the conditions of the early Earth, offering a new window into the origins of life as researchers explore whether or how life arose on the Red Planet.
“The drilling depth of two metres was chosen based on a balance of scientific goals, mechanical feasibility, and mission constraints,” Harry Marsh, an Aberystwyth University postgraduate working on Enfys for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover, told The Debrief. “This depth is deep enough to reach pristine subsurface material that has been shielded from surface radiation and oxidation – essential for detecting preserved organic molecules.
“Going beyond two metres would require larger, heavier, and more power-hungry equipment, which is impractical for a mobile Rover,” Marsh added.
The Enfys Infrared Spectrometer
The Enfys infrared spectrometer is part of a two-instrument system, where it will be paired with a device called the PanCam. Working in tandem, the instruments will provide data for selecting optimal drilling sites, and the samples from these sites will then be analyzed with other onboard instruments.
“The surface of Mars has been completely baked by ionising radiation, oxidants and ultraviolet light, which rapidly degrade organic molecules,” Marsh said. “The material two metres below the sun-baked surface has been shielded from these destructive forces.
“Drilling to this depth is unprecedented on Mars, and is what makes the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover special – its ability to access subsurface material and retrieve pristine samples which may contain preserved evidence of possible life,” Marsh added.
Testing a Mars Rover
For testing Enfys, researchers will use the Aerospace Logistics Technology Engineering Company’s Ground Test Model, a so-called “Earth twin” of the Rosalind Franklin Rover. A Martian terrain simulator located in Turin, Italy, will provide a realistic setting to test the rover’s system in various scenarios against the Red Planet’s harsh conditions.
“This milestone marks a proud moment for Welsh science, placing Aberystwyth at the heart of one of the most advanced planetary exploration projects in history,” said Dr Matt Gunn of the Department of Physics at Aberystwyth University. “Once Enfys has been installed on the Ground Test Model Rover in Turin, it will allow us to rigorously test and refine our systems ahead of launch.”
“The team here in Aberystwyth, along with our partners, has worked tirelessly to reach this point, drawing on years of experience in space instrumentation development to push the boundaries of what’s possible,” Gunn added.
With Enfys handed off to Turin for real-world testing, the team back at Aberystwyth is about to begin a new phase of the project. They will be putting together Enfys’s flight model for installation on the genuine Rosalind Franklin Rover ahead of launch.
Between now and the final installation, the engineering team will integrate test data and continually refine the system that, if all goes according to plan, will lead the way in the search for life on Mars in the years ahead.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.