Deep clean prepares facility for rover's assembly
Astronomy enthusiasts will be afforded a unique insight into the building of a robot for space when the team behind Europe's ExoMars programme broadcasts the building of their rover live on the internet.
The rover will be painstakingly put together at an Airbus Defence and Space facility in the UK, before being blasted into space sometime in 2018. Right now the facility is undergoing a super deep clean to make sure the rover doesn't carry any microscopic life forms to Mars, where it is destined to search for signs of life.
If it lands successfully the ExoMars rover will deploy a drill, collect samples and then analyse them with its onboard instrumentation. Although there have been previous rovers on Mars, including NASA's high-profile Curiosity and the failed landing of the Beagle 2, ExoMars hopes to be the first science robot on the planet that can both move and drill up to two metres into its surface.
To meet the launch schedule ExoMars rover must be built and ready to roll by the end of 2017. The world will be watching.
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