ISLAMABAD-The joint European and Russian mission to send a rover to Mars in a hunt for ancient signs of life won’t leave until 2022 after due to delays in pre-flight tests. The ExoMars mission was due to leave for the Red Planet on a Russian rocket in July or August this year - carrying the British built Rosalind Franklin rover. All of the hardware for the mission is built but there is a long list of outstanding checks and tests still to do before it can launch. With countries on lock down due to COVID-19 and large gathering discouraged, ESA and Roscosmos don’t think they can have the tests done by summer 2020. Revealing the delay at a video press conference from Paris, ESA director general Jan Woerner said a number of tests still needed to be successfully conducted, but there would not be enough time before the launch window. Given that the journey from Earth to Mars can only be attempted when the planets are in specific positions, the next launch date will not be until 2022.