14 DAY TRIAL // Officials from the European Space Agency (ESA), the UK Space Agency, and Airbus Defense and Space announced recently the inauguration of a new playground for the upcoming ExoMars mission. The project seeks to launch a series of spacecraft towards the Red Planet, including a large rover.
In order to support these efforts, a collaboration of engineers have renovated an existing test area, turning it into a replica of Martian soils. This facility will be used to test the upcoming Martian rover thoroughly and provide ESA engineers with a wealth of data on how different types of soil and terrains will influence the performances of the ExoMars rover.
The test facility was opened on Thursday, March 27, in Stevenage, the UK. Though ExoMars is not scheduled to launch until 2018, the installation will be put to good use in informing the development process. Experts say that test and engineering models of the real-life rover will be used inside this special chamber, located at ADS' Stevenage site.
The chamber is filled with no less than 300 tons of sand and measures 30 by 13 meters (98.5 by 42.5 feet). All walls, ceilings, and surfaces are painted in hues of red and brown, inspired by images sent back from the Martian surface by other rovers and landers. This was done in order to test ExoMars' cameras in conditions as close as possible to what they will deal with once on the Red Planet.
“A facility like this enables us to develop sophisticated navigation systems to ‘teach’ Mars rovers how to drive autonomously across the Red Planet. This will be a fantastic resource for the ExoMars rover team and for future missions to come,” commented the ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration Alvaro Giménez.
ExoMars is being developed in two stages, an orbiter scheduled for launch in 2016 and a rover that will blast off in 2018. The entire project is a cooperative effort between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos). The actual spacecraft is being built in the United Kingdom.
“The ExoMars rover represents the best of British high-value manufacturing. The technologies developed as part of the programme, such as autonomous navigation systems, new welding materials and techniques, will also have real impacts on other sectors, helping them stay on the cutting edge,” UK Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable said at the innauguration.
“Not only is it hugely exciting that Europe’s next mission to Mars will be British-built, but it is incredibly rewarding to see the benefits of our investment in the European Space Agency creating jobs here in the UK,” he added.
As a whole, the ExoMars project is meant to check whether or not Mars was ever able to support life. This goal will be accomplished by studying the planet's atmosphere and by using a drill installed on the rover to dig deeper holes into the ground than ever achieved before.