ExoMars rover drill closeup
Closeup of the Rosalind Franklin rover’s drill unit. The image is of the rover ‘ground test model’ – a replica rover situated at the Rover Operations Control Centre, in Turin, Italy, and used for rehearsing commands.
The rover will be the first in Mars exploration that will be able to retrieve soil samples down to 2 m underground, where ancient biomarkers may still be preserved from the harsh radiation on the surface. Upon retrieval of the samples, they will be analysed in a sophisticated laboratory inside the rover.
In this image, the Close-Up Imager, CLUPI, is visible as the ‘box’ on the side of the drill unit. CLUPI will be able to study various aspects of the drilling process, from the ‘drill fines’ around the drill hole, to the samples themselves while they sit on the sample tray. When the drill is in stowed position, CLUPI can also take photos of the landscape to the side of the rover.
