2023-09-07 17:56:56
A German-French space robot called Idefix is expected to collect information on the Martian moon Phobos from 2027. The four-legged rover, which weighs 25 kilos and is 51 centimeters high, was presented on Thursday at the French space center CNES in Toulouse. It is expected to become part of the Japanese space mission MMX, which is scheduled to launch in September 2024. She is supposed to investigate the two Mars moons Phobos and Deimos (German: Fear and Terror).
The German Aerospace Center had previously installed the carbon structure and the erection and locomotion system in Bremen and delivered it to Toulouse in November 2022.
The Idefix rover, named after a well-known cartoon dog, is scheduled to land on Phobos in early 2027. “We don’t yet know how it will behave on the surface of the moon,” said Patrick Michel, who is responsible for the project on the French side. The gravity there is extremely low. If all goes according to plan, Idefix will roll over a distance of about 100 meters and take samples from the surface.
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The rover has solar panels and can also take photos. The evaluated data could provide new insights into the early history of the solar system, said Michel. The choice of name is based on the French satellite Asterix, which was launched into space in 1965.
The two moons of Mars are relatively small and irregularly shaped: Phobos has a diameter of 27 kilometers and Deimos 15 kilometers.
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