CHIPS
Regular
No, it is an F for presentation skills of a company that should present itself perfectly. If I see such mistakes, others will also.
It is all about impression ...
BRN Discussion Ongoing
- Thread starter TechGirl
- Start date
It is all about impression ...
Frangipani
Top 20
I hope we can get them into BRN's University AI Accelerator Program, that would be fantastic.
Close to BRN headquarter so no excuses, fire up the Tesla and go and speak with them Sean or maybe Kris Carlson now you are there.
Who We Are
Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide.
I am pretty sure such talks would already have taken place - whether anything came out of it remains to be seen.
Kris Carlson knows UC Irvine very well - from 2011-2015, he was a postdoc in Jeff Krichmar’s UC Irvine lab, which is nowadays known as the Cognitive Anteater Robotics Lab (CARL), its name presumably paying homage to UC Irvine’s mascot Peter the Anteater:
The conference organisers have even arranged for surfing lessons at the end of the conference - I wonder whether the surf instructor will be dressed as an anteater, too.
By the way, I love the image of the anteater robot our company’s graphic designer created to advertise BrainChip’s participation in that animat conference. Consistently excellent work there!
Here is an abstract of Kris Carlson’s talk scheduled for today:
https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-432432
Oh, and in case anyone missed it: CARL researchers recently published a YouTube video revealing they are no strangers to AKD1000…
https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-432418
They had used an E-Puck mobile robot for their AKD1000 demo video, which reminded me of Tony Lewis referring to a puck-sized compact device as a visionary product during his CTO address at this year’s AGM:
https://thestockexchange.com.au/threads/brn-discussion-ongoing.1/post-432430
Luppo71
Founding Member
Probably not.
Qualcomm Is About To Acquire Intel? Here's What We Know
Last year, Intel’s PC client business saw an 8 per cent decline in revenue, dropping to $29.3 billion, reflecting overall weakness in the PC market.news.abplive.com
Attachments
The Pope
Regular
Yes atleast I know what RAG means nowFrom the AI hardware summit. “select appliance” I would love to know what this is about..
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is the process of optimizing the output of a large language model, so it references an authoritative knowledge base outside of its training data sources before generating a response.
No doubt this will be considered pumping even though its fact - why?
Sean's interview after the AGM. From circa 1 min 30s Sean confirms our ability to win, we have been down selected on almost all of our engagements, meeting with C level execs and he knows decisions are coming in a relatively short period of time.
Worth another listen. I have no doubt Sean will come through for us.
stocksdownunder.com
Sean's interview after the AGM. From circa 1 min 30s Sean confirms our ability to win, we have been down selected on almost all of our engagements, meeting with C level execs and he knows decisions are coming in a relatively short period of time.
Worth another listen. I have no doubt Sean will come through for us.
BrainChip (ASX:BRN): Post AGM interview with CEO Sean Hehir
We spoke with Sean Hehir, CEO of BrainChip (ASX:BRN) to see where BrainChip is at with respect to signing additional commercial deals!
stocksdownunder.com
Frangipani
Top 20
Managed to match Summer Internship Project Five with Keith Hoffmeister, a B.Sc. Computer Science and Engineering student at UCLA (which happens to be the alma mater of our CTO Tony Lewis).
DingoBorat
Slim
I'm not sure, they are actually spending much time "chasing" University's, at least not now..I hope we can get them into BRN's University AI Accelerator Program, that would be fantastic.
Close to BRN headquarter so no excuses, fire up the Tesla and go and speak with them Sean or maybe Kris Carlson now you are there.
Who We Are
Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide.
University's, can either join and have their undergraduates, at the forefront of neuromorphic technology, or not..
Getupthere
Regular
Edge chip maker SiMa.ai launches Modalix to bring multimodal gen AI everywhere — VentureBeat
Edge computer chip and software startup SiMa.ai, fresh off a $70 million funding round from industry heavyweights including Dell Technologies Capital, is expanding its foothold in the edge AI market with the release of a new, smaller, lower power chip: MLSoC Modalix.
Terroni2105
Founding Member
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! | Alf Kuchenbuch
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! (That is my dream.)
That certainly looks like a competitor.
Edge chip maker SiMa.ai launches Modalix to bring multimodal gen AI everywhere — VentureBeat
Edge computer chip and software startup SiMa.ai, fresh off a $70 million funding round from industry heavyweights including Dell Technologies Capital, is expanding its foothold in the edge AI market with the release of a new, smaller, lower power chip: MLSoC Modalix.apple.news
Quote:
We are determined to disrupt the $10T+ embedded edge market that is still using decades old technology. We’re a uniquely qualified 100+ team made up of the brightest minds in software, semiconductor design, and machine learning. We are well-funded by top-tier VCs and initially focused on helping solve computer vision challenges in smart vision, robotics and Industry 4.0, drones, autonomous vehicles, healthcare, and the government sector. We are obsessed with delighting our customers and currently working with over 50 market-leading companies to bring ML to their platforms.
I don't know how we stack up against them?
They are working closely together with TSMC according to below Yahoo article!
Quote:
"TSMC has long-partnered with industry innovators like SiMa.ai, helping them achieve groundbreaking next-generation semiconductor designs with our industry-leading technologies and manufacturing excellence," said Lucas Tsai, Senior Director of Market Development and Emerging Business Management, TSMC North America. "We are excited to continue our collaboration in accelerating SiMa.ai’s powerful and energy-efficient chip innovation to meet the rapidly growing demand for GenAI at the edge."
Our Story
We are in the relentless pursuit to make ML effortless for you. We know it’s an audacious goal – so we are taking it head on.
sima.ai
SiMa.ai Expands ONE Platform for Edge AI with MLSoC™ Modalix, a New Product Family for Generative AI
SAN JOSE, Calif., September 09, 2024--SiMa.ai, the software-centric, embedded edge machine learning system-on-chip (MLSoC) company, today announced MLSoC™ Modalix, the industry’s first multi-modal edge AI product family. SiMa.ai MLSoC Modalix supports CNNs, Transformers, LLMs, LMMs and Gen AI at...
finance.yahoo.com
Frangipani
Top 20
View attachment 69142
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! | Alf Kuchenbuch
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! (That is my dream.)www.linkedin.com
Hi Terroni,
your post reminded me of two comments by Laurent Hili I had spotted before going on holidays, but forgot to post a screenshot of:
View attachment 69142
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! | Alf Kuchenbuch
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! (That is my dream.)
What Wiki said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin_(rover)
Since the rover communicates with the ground controllers via the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), and the orbiter only passes over the rover approximately twice per sol, the ground controllers will not be able to actively guide the rover across the surface. The Rosalind Franklin rover is therefore designed to navigate autonomously across the Martian surface.[39][40] Two stereo camera pairs (NavCam and LocCam) allow the rover to build up a 3D map of the terrain,[41] which the navigation software then uses to assess the terrain around the rover so that it avoids obstacles and finds an efficient route to the ground controller specified destination.
Apparently NASA has been training the Mars rover using something called machine learning.
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-nasa-machine-algorithm-mars-sample.html#google_vignette
August 5, 2024
Editors' notes
NASA trains machine learning algorithm for Mars sample analysis
by Matthew Kaufman, NASA...
This machine learning algorithm can help us by quickly filtering the data and pointing out which data are likely to be the most interesting or important for us to examine," said Xiang "Shawn" Li, a mass spectrometry scientist in the Planetary Environments lab at NASA Goddard.
The algorithm will first be put to the test with data from Mars, by operating on an Earth-bound computer using data collected by the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument.
The analyzer is one of the main science instruments on the upcoming ExoMars mission Rosalind Franklin Rover, led by ESA (European Space Agency). The rover, which is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2028, seeks to determine if life ever existed on the Red Planet.
After Rosalind Franklin collects a sample and analyzes it with MOMA, data will be sent back to Earth, where scientists will use the findings to decide the best next course of action.
Alf is a funny guy. There is no chance to use Akida on ExaMars! Sorry!! Too late!!View attachment 69142
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! | Alf Kuchenbuch
Laurent Hili, Sandi Habinc, Sean Hehir, please give Rosalind's "children" a neuromorphic brain for better perception and autonomy! (That is my dream.)
Not Akida!!
Frangipani
Top 20
Are you suggesting it might be Akida technology that will enable the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover to navigate autonomously?
I very much doubt it. Alf Kuchenbuch’s post doesn’t suggest so. He refers to Rosalind’s “children”, hence to a new generation of rovers. If BrainChip were indeed involved with said Mars rover (already under construction), he would have worded his comment differently. Apart from that, the time line doesn’t match either, as in the This Is Our Mission podcast in March (Episode 31), Laurent Hili and Luis Mansilla made it clear that neuromorphic technology will initially be tested in non-critical applications.
Also, Laurent Hili’s comment that I posted earlier today points to Akida technology being envisioned for a lunar lander initially - an ESA mission to the Moon, not to Mars.
I believe the Argonaut lunar lander is what we might be looking at - ESA recently announced that it is targeting 2031 for the lander’s first mission to the Moon’s surface.
Argonaut: Europe's lunar lander programme
The European Space Agency (ESA) lunar lander programme, Argonaut, represents Europe’s autonomous, versatile and reliable access to the Moon. The programme is a key part of ESA’s lunar strategy and will support future robotic and crewed missions, contributing to international efforts to establish...
www.esa.int
SCIENCE & EXPLORATION
Argonaut
46942 VIEWS221 LIKESESA / Science & Exploration / Human and Robotic Exploration / Exploration
Argonaut is Europe’s autonomous access to the Moon, allowing us to play a major role on the surface of our natural satellite. The lunar lander is being designed for a series of missions with many options for its payloads – from cargo and infrastructure delivery to scientific operations, a rover or a power station, Argonaut is being designed as a versatile access to the Moon.
Argonaut elementsArgonaut will launch on an Ariane 6 rocket in a direct flight to the Moon. An Argonaut mission from launch to landing could take from a week to a month, depending on orbits and mission design. No area is off-limits for Argonaut, the spacecraft will be able to land at any region on the Moon.
The Argonaut spacecraft has three main components: the lunar descent element that takes care of flying to the Moon and landing on target, the cargo platform element that is the interface between the lander and its payload, and finally, the element that mission designers want to send to the Moon.
Adaptability is key in the Argonaut design, the cargo platform element is designed to accept any mission profile: cargo for astronauts near the landing site, a rover, technology demonstration packages, production facilities using resources on the Moon, a lunar telescope or even a power station.
Argonaut is continuing Apollo and Artemis tradition to name lunar missions after Greek mythology. Argonaut is the name given to the sailors of the Argo ship who took Jason on the quest to find the golden fleece. ‘Argonaut’ means ‘sailors of the Argo’ and the individual missions using ESA’s lunar lunar delivery service will be named after the individual mythical Argonauts.
Space agencies have much in store on the Moon for humankind and Argonaut is offering autonomous European access as well as strong possibilities for partnership. As part of the Artemis programme, ESA is participating in NASA’s Orion service module that ferries astronauts, and Europe is supplying modules to the international Gateway in lunar orbit. Argonaut could be an independent complement to the Artemis programme offering cargo delivery and more.
Leading Moon exploration with strong partners
ArgonautThe lunar lander is being designed with versatility in mind as a strong part of ESA’s lunar strategy and Argonaut could be included in the Artemis programme to deliver cargo, rovers and more, or as stand-alone scientific missions.
The Apollo astronauts never lived and work through the lunar night – a night on the Moon is 14 days long and temperatures on the surface plummet to a chilling –150°C.
One capability of the lander will be to bring a sizable share of the food, water, air, and equipment for a crew of four women and men working on the Moon through the night. The Argonaut lunar descent element will be able to bring up to 2100 kg worth of cargo platform element and payload to the Moon – equivalent to a camper van. The European lander can deliver much more than simple cargo: it could function as a survival kit for the explorers of our new frontier.
Sustaining Moon science for decades
What is ESA’s Moonlight initiative?
Access the video
For scientists, the Moon’s qualities of being interesting, close, and useful are an enticing motivation to understand our place in the Universe. Argonaut will allow going beyond short excursions with just a handful of instruments. Driven by scientists’ priorities, the European lander would allow samples to be analysed from previously unexplored and hard-to-get-to regions of the Moon.
Argonaut will use ESA’s Moonlight navigation and telecommunication capabilities around the Moon, allowing for fast communication with the Gateway and Earth to return scientific or operational data, as well as location finding for the automated landing – Argonaut will be able to land with an accuracy of less than 100 m.
Terrae Novae destinations: Moon
The teams in ESA, international partner agencies, European industry, and in the scientific institutions are on this journey together that will bring benefits in the form of inspiration, innovation, and economic growth to all Europeans.
Argonaut was approved at ESA’s Council at ministerial level in 2022 and is now in development. Five missions are foreseen in the next decade, fitting in with ESA’s Terrae Novae strategy for human and robotic exploration.
Technical details
| Launcher | Ariane 64 |
| Launch Site | Kourou, French Guiana |
| Mass on Earth | 10 000 kg |
| Mass on the Moon without cargo | 1600 kg |
| Delivered mass (CPE+ payload) | up to 2100 kg |
| Size | 4.5 m in diameter, up to 6 m tall |
| Landing accuracy | 50–100 m |
| Mission types | Multiple and diverse:
|
A CAD model for illustration purposes of the Lunar Descent Element is available here. Please consider mentioning ESA if any material is made using this CAD model
Update:
I just noticed that Alf Kuchenbuch has meanwhile edited his post, adding (“That is my dream.”), and that Laurent Hili posted an identical comment twice in response to a) that post resp. b) Alf Kuchenbuch’s comment under yesterday’s post by Steve Thorne, making it crystal-clear that it will still take time until Alf’s dream might come true (and at the same time also stresses that it is by no means 100% guaranteed - he literally says BrainChip “could” play a role, not “will” play a role and that it is one of the technologies they are seriously looking at - I am not sure whether he wanted to express the alternatives they are looking at are non-neuromorphic or whether that could also point to one or more neuromorphic competitors being evaluated in parallel by ESA…)
“We are actively working on it to make it a reality
(…) #brainchip could play a role and is one of the technology [sic] we are seriously looking at.”Sounds to me as if either someone from ESA or BrainChip requested Alf Kuchenbuch to edit his post in order to clarify we’re not there, yet, and to stop the rumour mill…
Last edited:
Frangipani
Top 20
Are you suggesting it might be Akida technology that will enable the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover to navigate autonomously?
I very much doubt it. Alf Kuchenbuch’s post doesn’t suggest so. He refers to Rosalind’s “children”, hence to a new generation of rovers. If BrainChip were indeed involved with said Mars rover (already under construction), he would have worded his comment differently. Apart from that, the time line doesn’t match either, as in the This Is Our Mission podcast in March (Episode 31), Laurent Hili and Luis Mansilla made it clear that neuromorphic technology will initially be tested in non-critical applications.
Also, Laurent Hili’s comment that I posted earlier today points to Akida technology being envisioned for a lunar lander initially - an ESA mission to the Moon, not to Mars.
I believe the Argonaut lunar lander is what we might be looking at - ESA recently announced that it is targeting 2031 for the lander’s first mission to the Moon’s surface.
Argonaut: Europe's lunar lander programme
The European Space Agency (ESA) lunar lander programme, Argonaut, represents Europe’s autonomous, versatile and reliable access to the Moon. The programme is a key part of ESA’s lunar strategy and will support future robotic and crewed missions, contributing to international efforts to establish...www.esa.int
SCIENCE & EXPLORATION
Argonaut
46942 VIEWS221 LIKES
ESA / Science & Exploration / Human and Robotic Exploration / Exploration
Argonaut is Europe’s autonomous access to the Moon, allowing us to play a major role on the surface of our natural satellite. The lunar lander is being designed for a series of missions with many options for its payloads – from cargo and infrastructure delivery to scientific operations, a rover or a power station, Argonaut is being designed as a versatile access to the Moon.
Argonaut will launch on an Ariane 6 rocket in a direct flight to the Moon. An Argonaut mission from launch to landing could take from a week to a month, depending on orbits and mission design. No area is off-limits for Argonaut, the spacecraft will be able to land at any region on the Moon.
The Argonaut spacecraft has three main components: the lunar descent element that takes care of flying to the Moon and landing on target, the cargo platform element that is the interface between the lander and its payload, and finally, the element that mission designers want to send to the Moon.
Adaptability is key in the Argonaut design, the cargo platform element is designed to accept any mission profile: cargo for astronauts near the landing site, a rover, technology demonstration packages, production facilities using resources on the Moon, a lunar telescope or even a power station.
Argonaut is continuing Apollo and Artemis tradition to name lunar missions after Greek mythology. Argonaut is the name given to the sailors of the Argo ship who took Jason on the quest to find the golden fleece. ‘Argonaut’ means ‘sailors of the Argo’ and the individual missions using ESA’s lunar lunar delivery service will be named after the individual mythical Argonauts.
Space agencies have much in store on the Moon for humankind and Argonaut is offering autonomous European access as well as strong possibilities for partnership. As part of the Artemis programme, ESA is participating in NASA’s Orion service module that ferries astronauts, and Europe is supplying modules to the international Gateway in lunar orbit. Argonaut could be an independent complement to the Artemis programme offering cargo delivery and more.
Leading Moon exploration with strong partners
The lunar lander is being designed with versatility in mind as a strong part of ESA’s lunar strategy and Argonaut could be included in the Artemis programme to deliver cargo, rovers and more, or as stand-alone scientific missions.
The Apollo astronauts never lived and work through the lunar night – a night on the Moon is 14 days long and temperatures on the surface plummet to a chilling –150°C.
One capability of the lander will be to bring a sizable share of the food, water, air, and equipment for a crew of four women and men working on the Moon through the night. The Argonaut lunar descent element will be able to bring up to 2100 kg worth of cargo platform element and payload to the Moon – equivalent to a camper van. The European lander can deliver much more than simple cargo: it could function as a survival kit for the explorers of our new frontier.
Sustaining Moon science for decades
What is ESA’s Moonlight initiative?
Access the video
For scientists, the Moon’s qualities of being interesting, close, and useful are an enticing motivation to understand our place in the Universe. Argonaut will allow going beyond short excursions with just a handful of instruments. Driven by scientists’ priorities, the European lander would allow samples to be analysed from previously unexplored and hard-to-get-to regions of the Moon.
Argonaut will use ESA’s Moonlight navigation and telecommunication capabilities around the Moon, allowing for fast communication with the Gateway and Earth to return scientific or operational data, as well as location finding for the automated landing – Argonaut will be able to land with an accuracy of less than 100 m.
Terrae Novae destinations: Moon
The teams in ESA, international partner agencies, European industry, and in the scientific institutions are on this journey together that will bring benefits in the form of inspiration, innovation, and economic growth to all Europeans.
Argonaut was approved at ESA’s Council at ministerial level in 2022 and is now in development. Five missions are foreseen in the next decade, fitting in with ESA’s Terrae Novae strategy for human and robotic exploration.
Technical details
Launcher Ariane 64 Launch Site Kourou, French Guiana Mass on Earth 10 000 kg Mass on the Moon without cargo 1600 kg Delivered mass (CPE+ payload) up to 2100 kg Size 4.5 m in diameter, up to 6 m tall Landing accuracy 50–100 m Mission types Multiple and diverse:
- Cargo logistics
- Science & exploration missions
- technology demonstration packages
- Power generation, storage and distribution systems
- in-situ resource utilisation plants
- and more...
A CAD model for illustration purposes of the Lunar Descent Element is available here. Please consider mentioning ESA if any material is made using this CAD model
Update:
I just noticed that Alf Kuchenbuch has meanwhile edited his post, adding (“That is my dream.”), and that Laurent Hili posted an identical comment twice in response to a) that post resp. b) Alf Kuchenbuch’s comment under yesterday’s post by Steve Thorne, making it crystal-clear that it will still take time until Alf’s dream might come true (and at the same time also stresses that it is by no means 100% guaranteed - he literally says BrainChip “could” play a role, not “will” play a role and that it is one of the technologies they are seriously looking at - I am not sure whether he wanted to express the alternatives they are looking at are non-neuromorphic or whether that could also point to one or more neuromorphic competitors being evaluated in parallel by ESA…)
“We are actively working on it to make it a reality
Sounds to me as if either someone from ESA or BrainChip requested Alf Kuchenbuch to edit his post in order to clarify we’re not there, yet, and to stop the rumour mill…
View attachment 69145
View attachment 69144
Just a slight correction regarding my previous post:
The Rosalind Franklin Mars rover was actually completed and ready to be launched by 2022 - it has been in storage ever since, after ESA suspended cooperation on the joint ExoMars mission with Roscosmos due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is merely a new lander that is under construction, with Thales Alenia Space being the prime contractor.
ESA awards contract to Thales Alenia Space to restart ExoMars
The European Space Agency awarded a contract to resume work on a Mars rover mission that was derailed two years ago by geopolitics.
spacenews.com
ESA awards contract to Thales Alenia Space to restart ExoMars
Jeff FoustApril 10, 2024
-
ESA’s ExoMars rover will join an orbiter launched in 2016 on a mission to search for evidence of past life on Mars. Credit: ESA
COLORADO SPRINGS — The European Space Agency awarded a contract to a consortium of companies to resume work on a Mars rover mission that was derailed two years ago by geopolitics.
ESA announced April 9 it awarded a contract worth 522 million euros ($567 million) to a team led by Thales Alenia Space to restart work on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission. That mission will deliver to the surface of Mars the Rosalind Franklin rover, equipped with a drill that will go up to two meters into the surface, collecting material to analyze for evidence of past or present life.
ExoMars was scheduled to launch in September 2022 on a Russian Proton rocket, part of a partnership between ESA and Roscosmos that also included Russian development of a landing platform for the rover. However, ESA suspended cooperation on the mission weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and put the completed rover in storage.
The new contract covers work to replace some of the contributions Russia provided. Thales Alenia Space, the prime contractor, will lead the design of a new landing platform to replace the Russian design, and will handle assembly, integration and testing work. Airbus Defence and Space, which built the rover, will provide mechanical, thermal and propulsion systems for the landing platform. ArianeGroup will be responsible for the landing module’s heat shield and OHB a carrier module.
“There is a complementary difference in technologies and experience that each of the major players in the consortium have,” said Massimo Comparini, deputy chief executive and senior vice president for observation, exploration and navigation at Thales Alenia Space, said in a briefing about the new contract at the 39th Space Symposium.
Besides getting ExoMars back on track, the contract will help Europe develop key technologies in entry, descent and landing, or EDL. “The key aspect is that we develop new capabilities in Europe, industrial capabilities,” said Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA director of human and robotic exploration, at the briefing. “EDL is a key topic.”
The new lander will not require any major modifications to the rover itself, he said. Thales Alenia Space noted in a statement that its work on the contract will include a “full audit and tests” of the rover and other mission hardware, as well as the installation of a new infrared spectrometer instrument on the rover.
ExoMars will also incorporate contributions from NASA under a partnership between NASA and ESA announced after Russia was removed from the mission. NASA will provide aerobraking engines and radioisotope heating units (RHUs), small devices that use the heat produced by the decay of plutonium to keep the spacecraft warm.
NASA will also provide a launch of the mission, currently scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2028. Neuenschwander said NASA is currently procuring a launch vehicle for ExoMars but has not selected one yet. “There are natural candidates that you can imagine that are currently operational launchers currently going from U.S. soil” that could be used for ExoMars, he said.
Comparini said there was no one specific factor on the critical path to that late 2028 launch date. “It’s more the complexity of what must be refurbished and adapted for the mission,” he said.
“We are now facing the classical challenges we have in these types of missions,” Neuenschwander added, calling the new contract a “major stabilization” of the program. “Now, a lot of work remains to be done, but we are back on track in a nominal, typical space program.”
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