Very excited about this mission for several reasons.
The variety of rovers (different companies, different processes, different energy and propulsion) are quite exciting. It'll be useful to compare their efficacy.
But also significant is the overall mission design. A rover swarm where every individual member is expendable has been bandied about at NASA for at least 18 years. It lets the mission take more risks: if you see an interesting rock over rough terrain or a cave or outcropping that might harbor water ice, you're not going to risk a whole Perseverance on checking it out. But it might be worth risking one Iris or a couple COLMENA.
The variety of rovers (different companies, different processes, different energy and propulsion) are quite exciting. It'll be useful to compare their efficacy.
But also significant is the overall mission design. A rover swarm where every individual member is expendable has been bandied about at NASA for at least 18 years. It lets the mission take more risks: if you see an interesting rock over rough terrain or a cave or outcropping that might harbor water ice, you're not going to risk a whole Perseverance on checking it out. But it might be worth risking one Iris or a couple COLMENA.