News Time-lapsing Airbus’ Rosalind Franklin rover ahead of Mars mission

Feature image © Airbus/ Max Alexander. Used with permission.

The UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA) have unveiled the official name for the Airbus-built Mars rover, Rosalind Franklin, as we continue to capture its development through a bespoke time-lapse capture method.

We have two camera systems currently in situ at the aerospace pioneer’s Stevenage base, where the final assembly of the robotic vehicle is well underway.

Whilst all camera systems we install on sites around the UK and beyond are built & bespoked by us, our in-house team successfully developed two new, flexible versions of these, along with custom fixing solutions, to ensure uninterrupted time-lapse capture of the project.

Not only is this allowing us to achieve the very highest quality results for Airbus, but it also avoids intruding on or potentially interfering with the carefully managed cleanroom environment.

The rover at the focus of the work has now been named in honour of scientific pioneer, Rosalind Franklin, following a public poll. Franklin was a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and this is the first time a woman scientist has been honoured through a delivery craft.

UK astronaut Tim Peake was on hand at the Airbus factory to unveil the name of the rover, which is part of ESA’s “ExoMars” programme.

Working closely with Airbus throughout each phase of the project, as well as the current, ongoing capture of the rover itself, we also captured construction of the cleanroom built for this very purpose.

The Rosalind Franklin rover is a joint mission between ESA and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos). Final preparations are being made for the launch of the 300kg rover on its exploratory mission to Mars, scheduled for 2020.

Our continued involvement in such an iconic project is testament to not only the very high-quality time-lapse services we provide, but also our capability to continually develop & offer bespoke solutions for even the most sensitive of projects.

It is a privilege to be able to capture such a prestigious contribution to space exploration and research, as well as adding to our longstanding relationship capturing many of Airbus’ other specialist projects.