Rosalind Franklin: Mars rover named after pioneer

It was Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray images that enabled her colleagues James Watson and Francis Crick to decipher its iconic double-helix shape.

Franklin’s early death from ovarian cancer aged just 37, meant she never tragically received the recognition lauded on her male colleagues.

“In the last year of Rosalind’s life, I remember visiting her in hospital on the day when she was excited by the news of the Soviet Sputnik satellite – the very beginning of space exploration,” Franklin’s sister, Jenifer Glynn, said.

“She could never have imagined that over 60 years later there would be a rover sent to Mars bearing her name, but somehow that makes this project even more special.”

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