Space rovers that could help find life on Mars tested... in a quarry in Bedfordshire

  • ITV News Anglia's Matthew Hudson went along to find out about the quest to explore our 'final frontier'

Two space rovers that could potentially help in the search for life on Mars have been put through their paces on a mock-up of the red planet... at a quarry in Bedfordshire.

The prototypes, named Codi and Charlie, have been developed by aerospace company Airbus based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

The hope for the rovers is that some of the technology could be used to aid missions to the moon and be used in the search for life on Mars.

Codi is a four-wheeled rover and features navigation cameras and a robotic arm. It is able to collect rocks ealed in small tubes without the need for a human operator.

The second rover, Charlie, has six wheels and can nimbly climb over and navigate obstacles twice the diameter of the wheel.

One of the rovers was previously involved in a mission to bring back rock samples from Mars, which was scrapped in 2022 by US and European space agencies (ESA).

The ESA is continuing to fund further research using the rover to maintain and develop its space-faring and research capabilities.

Codi is able to drive to and retrieve samples with an accuracy of around 10cm while Charlie is testing a new navigation system developed for ESA’s flagship Mars mission, known as the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, which is expected to launch in 2028.

The mars rover being tested in a quarry in Bedfordshire. Credit: ITV Anglia

Chris Draper, rover programme manager at Airbus, said: "The thing we are excited at the most at the moment is the moon.

"The moon is a stepping stone to Mars so there is obviously a lot of interest in going back to the moon and you can envisage rovers being part of the lunar ecosystem.

"Rovers can really support transporting things around at the base and support astronauts in their day-to-day activities.

"And then once we can prove we can do that on the moon, we [will] want to do the same on Mars.'

Pantelis Poulakis, ESA’s Mars sample return project team leader, said: "When you are doing robotic missions that interact with environment of another planet, being able to do field trials and testing is a very important part of the development.

"Nasa has a culture of testing so even when they do not have a mission, they have an annual field testing campaign with robotics, because this creates competence.

"So when there is a defined mission, people know exactly what to do and what the challenges are and we are trying to do that in Europe."

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