The European Space Agency's long-delayed Rosalind Franklin rover has received a boost with confirmation that NASA is staying in the project.

During Director General Josef Achbacher's speech at the agency's Ministerial meeting, where funding is debated and projects proposed and selected, he said [PDF]: "Just yesterday, I received very good news from NASA to confirm their contribution to the Rosalind Franklin Mission."

Among other things, the mission calls for a rover to be sent to Mars and drill up to two meters in search of underground biomarkers. Thanks to proposed cuts to NASA's budget, the US space agency's participation could have been scaled back or cut altogether.

An ESA insider described the ExoMars project as "snakebit." The project initially had NASA as a partner, but the US sp

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