Europe's ExoMars Rover Officially Named After DNA Pioneer Rosalind Franklin

[Judi Lynn]

7 February 2019, 9:12 pm EST By Athena Chan Tech Times



The British European Space Agency (ESA) has finally announced the official name of the UK-made ExoMars rover. Now called Rosalind Franklin, it is named after the scientist and discoverer of the structure of the DNA.

ExoMars Rover
On Feb. 7, ESA astronaut Tim Peake with Science Minister Chris Skidmore officially announced that the name of the ExoMars rover that is going to be used in the ExoMars program will be Rosalind Franklin. The name was selected by a panel of experts from a list of names submitted by members of the public after a naming competition was opened last July and was selected out of nearly 36,000 responses. Those who chose the final name were invited to the naming ceremony where they got the chance to meet Tim Peake.

According to Skidmore, the name is fitting for the rover, as she helped us understand life on Earth, and now the rover will help us do the same on Mars. The main goal of rover Rosalind Franklin is to examine the environment of Mars for possible signs of previous life and perhaps if it can still do so.

Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin was a British physicist, biophysicist, chemist, X-ray crystallographer, and biologist who contributed to the understanding of DNA, RNA, coal, viruses, and graphite. When she graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge in 1941, she was only given a degree titular because women were not entitled to getting degrees at the time, but she did receive her PhD from Ohio University in 1945.

More:
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/238445/20190207/europes-exomars-rover-officially-named-after-dna-pioneer-rosalind-franklin.htm

[Stargazer09]

1. This almost made me cry

Rosalind Franklin should have been acknowledged for her work during her life, but I think this is a fitting tribute.

Every news story about this Mars rover will feature her name, and I hope that the rover will discover something so important that the names of the male scientists who slighted Franklin will end up being mere footnotes in history.

[Laffy Kat]

2. Yes, she got robbed.

Crick and Watson were terrible to her. They should have all shared the Nobel.

[Stargazer09]

3. I agree

She passed away prior to when Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel, but it still would have been nice if she had gotten more recognition during her lifetime.

She definitely deserved better treatment from her fellow scientists!