ExoMars under the Spanish Sun

As the Sun set on a week of trials for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars rover prototype, nicknamed Charlie, scientists are excited about what is to come from the future mission.

During a ten-day field trial taken in the Tabernas Desert in Spain, nicknamed ExoFiT, scientists were practising driving the rover, targeting areas of interest and sampling rocks. Although there were environmental issues such as rainfall the team were able to optimise their time and test a variety of instruments that will search for signs of life on the surface of Mars.