The European Space Agency declined to comment on any implications the Russia-Ukraine situation might pose to ExoMars or other joint projects.
But researchers at dozens of institutions across Europe have spent years working to put their tech on the surface of the Red Planet. Moreover, because of its drill, the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is more likely to find traces of any life Mars may once have had than its American counterpartThe Exomars Rosalind Franklin rover is fitted with a six-foot drill that will help it search for traces of life under the Martian surface.
"We have a great cooperation with our Russian scientific and engineering colleagues, including some joint calibration tests going on in Turin [Italy] this week," Andrew Coates, a professor of physics and planetary scientist at University College London, told Space.com in an email. Coates is the principal investigator on the PanCam instrument, the scientific eyes of the ExoMars rover, and previously helped to build Perseverance's primary scientific camera Mastcam-Z, but also one for an earlier failed European attempt to land on Mars, the 2003
So far, he said, he expects the ExoMars rover to launch as planned during a twelve-day window between Sept. 20 and Oct. 1. Related stories:
Russia spends almost 4% of GDP on the military sector. Today we all have seen how they spend this money. Any business with them leads to support of the war in Europe! stopwar
Yeah well...
Time to activate all the space agencies and organizations to rally up the war cry to defeat the Russian belligerent! Utilize those satellites to conduct reconnaissance on the eastern front. COLDWAR 2.0