OU to support mission to search for signs of ancient life on Mars

The Open University (OU) has been awarded £254,000 from the UK Space Agency to advance the UK’s scientific leadership on the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin Rover Mission (RFM), launching in 2028.

The 12 month project, beginning in April 2026, will support essential preparatory work for two UK led rover instruments — PanCam and Enfys — and strengthen the UK’s contribution to the mission’s search for signs of ancient life on Mars.

The Rosalind Franklin Rover will be the first mission to drill up to two metres below the Martian surface, accessing material shielded from harsh radiation and enabling unprecedented geochemical and astrobiological investigations. The UK leads two of the rover’s core scientific instruments: PanCam, the rover’s daily use panoramic camera system, and Enfys, a multispectral spectrometer capable of identifying minerals directly from the surface without drilling.

Strengthening UK operations for PanCam and Enfys

The new funding supports ongoing operations planning and staff training for PanCam, led at the OU by Professor Matt Balme, Deputy Principal Investigator of the instrument. This includes continued development of PASTI, a browser based tactical operations tool that allows the international science team to select daily imaging and spectroscopic targets using low resolution mosaics sent back from Mars.

Professor Balme said:

“This funding, provided by the UK Space Agency, will help us develop the operational processes and scientific background needed to make sure the PanCam and Enfys instruments onboard the Rosalind Franklin Rover mission are successful.”

Advancing rapid geochemical analysis for drill sites

A key component of the award supports co-Investigator, OU Professor Susanne Schwenzer, one of the UK’s Interdisciplinary Scientists for the mission. Her team will begin developing new tools and methodologies to quickly assess the geochemical environment of drill sites — a crucial step in determining whether past conditions at those locations could have supported life.

Their work ensures that the UK’s scientific teams — and The Open University in particular — are fully prepared to maximise the scientific return from one of the most ambitious Mars missions ever undertaken.

“Although Rosalind Franklin won’t launch until 2028, there is still much to do to prepare for such a complex mission,” Professor Balme added.