Episode 7: Mission to Mars + Jet Pack Flights

Human beings have been fascinated by Mars for centuries. Since 2012, NASA&aposs Curiosity Rover has been traversing the red planet to see if it could support microbial life. In today’s episode Emma went to speak to the ExoMars team who are attempting to search deeper with the Rosalind Franklin Rover which will be launched to Mars in 2022.

At the core of this mission to Mars is  the Rosalind Franklin Rover. An autonomous machine that is going to be traversing the landscape on Mars and gathering information. Emma spoke to Abbie Hutty, a lead structures engineer on the project. Abbie introduces Emma to Bruno, a version of the Rosalind Franklin Rover. Abbie explains the challenges involved with a project this size, and how they hope to overcome the difficult Mars terrain. 

Missions to Mars have a success rate of approximately 50% so those involved have to have a clear idea what can go wrong while their machine is in space.  Emma also went to speak to Andrew Coates, ExoMars Special Investigator, who outlined a litany of risks associated with the project.

Since the beginning of time we’ve looked up at the sky and wondered what it would be like to be able to fly.  In our first story, our very own Shini Somara tries on a jetpack and tells us exactly what it&aposs like!

To find out more, Shini goes to visit Richard Browning, the founder of Gravity Industries.  Richard is the innovator behind a jet pack that allows him to partake in the miracle of personal flight. She found out how Richard thought of the idea and what inspired him to develop the machine. Shini also takes the jet pack for a spin and tells us exactly how difficult flying actually is.