The Rosalind Franklin Rover has a ride to Mars, this week on Planetary Radio.

I'm Sarah L. Ahmed of the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our solar system and beyond.

This week I'm joined by Jorge Vago, Exomars Project Scientist at the European Space Agency.

We'll talk about the Rosalind Franklin Rover's journey to the launch pad,

the science that is going to do when it actually gets to Mars,

and what's coming up next in the search for life beyond Earth.

Then, stick around for what's up with

our chief scientist Bruce Betts, where we talk about the exomars trace gas orbiter that's been

waiting to send the rover's data back to Earth. If you love Planetary Radio and want to stay

informed about the latest space discoveries, make sure you hit that subscribe button on your

favorite podcasting platform. By subscribing,

you'll never miss an episode filled with new and awe-inspiring ways to know the cosmos and our

place within it. The Rosalind Franklin Rover has had one of the longest roads to the launch pad

of almost any mission in European Space Agency history.

It's part of the Exomars program, whose first mission, the Trace Gas Orbiter, launched back in 2016 and is still operating at Mars today.

Rosalind Franklin, sometimes called the Exomars Rover, is the second and final piece of the program.

First proposed back in 2001, it's weathered

partnership changes, redesigns, and no shortage of setbacks along the way. Through all of that,

the science at the heart of this mission has stayed remarkably consistent. Rosalind Franklin

will be the first Mars rover to combine mobility with the ability to drill two meters beneath the surface.

That means that it can reach material that's been shielded from radiation for billions of years.

That could teach us so much about Mars's past habitability.

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