Kazachok

The ExoMars 2022 mission will have two science elements that land on Mars: a rover (Rosalind Franklin) and a surface platform (Kazachok).

Kazachok literally means 'little Cossack,' and it is a lively folk dance. That dance, in turn, takes its name from the Cossack people. The Cossacks originally hailed from "the northern hinterlands of the Black and Caspian seas.

The rover will leave the surface platform and travel across the surface of Mars to search for signs of well-preserved organic material, particularly from the early period of the planet. The surface platform, which is the responsibility of Roscosmos and the Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI), will remain stationary and will investigate the surface environment at the landing site. The set of sensors and instruments on the surface platform will operate during its nominal mission lifetime of one Earth year.

The main science priorities for the surface platform are context imaging of the landing site, long-term climate monitoring, and atmospheric investigations.

Kazachok Surface Platform

Credits: ESA