As some of you might be aware of, on the Q’n’A that took place a few days ago that counted with the presence of Jorge Vago, ExoMars Project Scientist, there was a question posed by one of the participants, Stuart Atkinson, regarding the appearance of the European rover present in some images, like the one used in this spacEurope special coverage banner.
The question was if there was a conscious decision to make the rover look like a martian Formula 1 car or if it was a coincidence that it looks this cool.
Jorge Vago’s answer was that the picture I have used is an early artist rendition.
Admitting that it looks really cool Jorge Vago told the visitors that the rover does not look like that anymore.
But he made a promise...to see if he could pass me a picture of what the rover looks like now.
Jorge Vago also added a brief description of it, telling us that the the body is now rather boxy. The drill box is, in his words, huuuge, and much larger than what we have seen in early renditions. The solar panels are also bigger, and tiltable. They look like some batman design. Finally, the two ground penetrating radar antennas stick from the back like two rocket boosters. In the Project Scientist opinion, it looks very nice, but the sleek, insect-like appearance of the artist rendition is not there anymore.
But, better than reading, nothing like seing the real stuff...
Jorge Vago kept is promise and here you have, in a very special appearance, the ExoMars rover as some of you may have never seen it before:
Share your impressions.
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