IARES rover with the PanCam, WISDOM and CLUPI prototypes during tests
The IARES rover, built by the French space agency, CNES, is a functionally representative planetary rover; it has a locomotion subsystem and traverse capabilities specifically designed for use on Martian terrain. Prototypes of three ExoMars instruments, PanCam (Panoramic Camera), WISDOM (Water Ice and Subsurface Deposit Observation on Mars) and CLUPI (CLose-UP Imager), were mounted on the rover for tests on a representative Mars-like terrain. These tests simulated part of the ExoMars rover’s work on Mars, where it will search for scientifically interesting places to drill into the surface.
The rover navigation cameras and the PanCam instrument share the pan-and-tilt mechanism at the top of the rover mast; they can be controlled remotely.
CLUPI, which is installed on the front of the rover, is designed to image rocks and compare the data with that obtained from PanCam and the navigation cameras.
The WISDOM antennas are mounted on the rear of the rover and the instrument collects data to generate a subsurface map using UHF ground-penetrating radar. This map will support the ExoMars rover in selecting the drilling locations where subsurface samples will be collected.
IARES was tested at an outdoor facility of CNES, in Toulouse, France, which has similar terrain to that which ESA’s ExoMars rover is expected to encounter on Mars.