Rosalind Frank was first ready to launch aboard Russia’s Proton rocket that same year.
However, the plan was shelved as ESA cancelled Russia’s involvement in the ExoMars project.
The contract was later reassigned to Airbus UK, which built the gadget from its base in Stevenage and replaced all the Russian-built components.
The last country to send a rover to Mars was the US in 2021 with Nasa’s Perseverance rover, which has been traversing the Red Planet alone for more than four years.
Funded by the government and the UK Space Agency, the ExoMars rover is expected to sustain roughly 200 space sector jobs.
Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, said: “This inspiring example of world-class British science will bring us one step closer to answering long-asked questions on potential life on Mars.
“Landing the first ever home-grown rover on Mars, Airbus will not only help Britain make history and lead the European space race but also bring hundreds of highly skilled jobs and investment.”
How long does it take to get to Mars?
It’s not that short of a trip…
- There’s an immense distance between Earth and Mars, which means any trip to the red planet will take a very long time
- It’s also made more complicated by the fact that the distance is constantly changing as the two planets rotate around the sun
- The closest that the Earth and Mars would ever be is a distance of 33.9million miles – that’s 9,800 times the distance between London and New York
- That’s really rare though: the more useful distance is the average, which is 140million miles
- Scientists on Earth have already launched a whole bunch of spacecraft to (or near) Mars, so we have a rough idea of how long it takes with current technology
- Historically, the trip has taken anywhere from 128 to 333 days – admittedly a huge length of time for humans to be on board a cramped spacecraft.
Image credit: Alamy
The Rosalind Frank rover is due to launch in 2028 aboard a rocket organised by Nasa, and land on Mars in 2030[/caption]
