Airbus Defence and Space shared on Thursday images from tests of Rosalind Franklin, also known as the ExoMars rover, carried out in the Tabernas desert in Andalusia, Spain.
Developed by the European Space Agency, the Rosalind Franklin rover is part of the ExoMars program that will explore the surface of Mars. It is currently supported by NASA.
The Tabernas desert was chosen for its geological similarity to the Martian terrain, Airbus said.
The mission of the campaign is to demonstrate complete integration between field operations and the Rover Operations Control Center (ROCC) in Turin, Italy. The operational simulation spanned eight days and tested the rover’s panoramic and microscopic imaging, WISDOM radar, and the Enfys spectrometer, which analyzes rock composition using infrared light.
The launch is expected in 2028.
