A group of scientists recently gathered in a remote region of Morocco to test instruments being developed for a mission to Mars. The arid and varied Morocco landscape provides plenty of opportunities for scientists to test the limits of the many instruments that will be included in the ExoMars effort.

ExoMars is a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), and will study the martian atmosphere, geology, and water cycle, and also search for signs of past and present life. The mission will include an orbiter, a lander and two rovers.