What is Kazachock?

Kazachock is the surface platform that Rosalind the Rover will begin it’s journey from.

Why is it called Kazachock?

Like Rosalind the Rover, the surface platform has also been given a nickname.

Kazachock means “little Cossack” which is a lively kind of Russian folk dance.

So is Kazachock just a platform for the rover to be on when it lands on Mars?

No, although it does provide a platform for the rover it also does loads of experiments itself!

So what experiments does Kazachock do?

Its first job will be to take really good images of the landing site so that Rosalind can safely move onto the planet’s surface.

After that it has lots of experiments to do, mainly taking various readings.

So what instruments does Kazachock have to do the experiments?

It has a lot but let’s look at just a couple.

The first is called LaRa and it undertakes Lander Radioscience experiments, taking measurements of the rotation and orientation of the planet by monitoring differences between Mars and the Earth.

Another one is called HABIT.

Its name reflects the things it will test – Habitability, Brine, Irradiation and Temperature. It will measure these on both the planet’s surface and in its atmosphere.

It also has a load of other instruments that will measure pressure and humidity, seismic activity, UV radiation and dust, the magnetic field, plasma environment and the gases in the atmosphere.