Named Rosalind Franklin after the famed English chemist who discovered the double helix structure of DNA, Europe’s rover would be a significant step forward in the hunt for life on the Red Planet. The cursed rover may still be saved-but at what cost? European Space Agency (ESA) officials are now weighing whether to attempt a launch for a fourth time versus canceling the mission and moving on. Yet it appears increasingly likely that ExoMars will never lift off at all.
After more than 20 years of planning and development, the fully assembled rover sits awaiting launch in a facility in Turin, Italy. “It was impossible for me to speak about this mission for weeks without tears,” says Valérie Ciarletti of the Laboratory for Atmospheres, Environments, Space Observations (LATMOS) in France, who leads the rover’s subsurface radar instrument team. For members of the team hoping “the third time’s the charm,” this latest delay feels especially cruel.
And now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dashed chances for a liftoff in 2022. Then the coronavirus pandemic prevented a launch in 2020. Parachute problems scuppered its initially planned launch in 2018. Europe’s long-awaited ExoMars rover-the first ever for the continent-seems to be cursed.
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