THE ExoMars rover set to launch next year to seek evidence of life on Mars has been named after British scientist Rosalind Franklin.
The decision, revealed by astronaut Tim Peake, was the result of a public competition launched last year. More than 36,000 people submitted ideas for what to call the rover. An expert panel made the final choice of Franklin, who is best known for her work on the structure of DNA.
鈥淚t is an important name because Rosalind Franklin was one of the great British scientists who unlocked the secrets of human life in terms of understanding DNA and the double helix, and ExoMars is so exciting because we鈥檙e searching for life on Mars,鈥� said Peake at an event to reveal the name.
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The rover is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos. It is due to launch in summer 2020 and reach the Red Planet in 2021, with the aim of understanding whether life exists there now or did in the past.
