Bathed in red, a scale model of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover welcomes visitors to the Natural History Museum in London. Rosalind is part of an exhibition supported by the European Space Agency that explores the question of whether life could exist beyond Earth.
This marks the very first time the museum has hosted an exhibition dedicated to space exploration in its 144-year history, under the title “Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?” The London venue is the second most visited attraction in the United Kingdom, with over six million visitors last year.
With more than 60 objects on display until February 2026, visitors will have the opportunity to understand both the science and the engineering of the search for life and will have the chance to touch fragments of rock from Mars.
The exhibition features the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission as Europe’s ambitious exploration journey to search for past and present signs of life on Mars. The rover will drill up to two metres below the surface to sample martian soil, analyse its composition, and search for preserved deposits of organic molecules.
The rover uses a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and scientific eyes atop its mast that provide a wide range of vision. From about two metres above the ground, its panoramic camera suite (PanCam) hosts wide angle and high-resolution cameras to get the big picture with high-resolution imaging. The Close-UP Imager (CLUPI) sits on the side of the drill box – another camera designed to acquire detailed images of outcrops, rocks and soils.
These radar and cameras will identify the most promising drilling sites. Rosalind’s Rosalind’s miniature laboratory will then analyse the samples with its three instruments, searching for evidence of life in underground soil protected from radiation.
European industry continues working to upgrade the Rosalind Franklin rover in preparation for its planned launch in 2028. Getting the Rosalind Franklin rover onto the surface of Mars is a huge international challenge and the culmination of more than 20 years’ work – potentially unlocking one of the greatest mysteries on our neighbouring planet.