The ExoMars lander seems to have been lost. In a press conference this morning, ESA spelled out what we know so far about what happened to the Schiaparelli lander on its descent to the surface of Mars.
About 50 seconds before touch down, the lander lost communication. It had successfully used its heatshield to slow down as it entered the Martian atmosphere and deployed its parachute. The parachute was then meant to be ejected and thrusters turned on to prepare Schiaparelli for landing, but this is where things went wrong.
āThere is a point where the parachute is released where the data we have collected from Schiaparelli does not quite match our expectations,ā said Andrea Accomazzo, ESA Spacecraft Operations Manager.
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The data is still be analysed, but there was radio silence for the final part of the descent.Ā āWhat is the likelihood the lander is in one piece?ā said Jan Wƶrner, ESA Director General. āWe donāt know.ā
The press questions focussed on Schiaparelli, but ESA were keen to explain that much of the mission has been successful.Ā Schiaparelli arrived with the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which has been successfully put into orbit around the Red Planet.
āTGO is now ready for science. We got all of the confirmations that we needed,ā said Wƶrner. TGO will start its science mission in 2017, after slowly moving into a more stable orbit around Mars.
Over the next few days ESA have a few opportunities to find out exactly what has happened to Schiaparelli. The lander was not designed for interactive communication, but if it hasnāt been destroyed, ESA does have the capability to reset its on-board computers and transmitters using TGO. Itās possible that Schiaparelli landed successfully and is just having technical trouble, so a reset could help.
There will also be a chance to take a picture of the landing area with NASAās Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Schiaparelli will appear very small, but it could help to explain whatās happened.
ESA are working against the clock. Schiaparelliās batteries are only expected to last somewhere between 4 to 12 days. If they are going to make the most of the lander, theyāll need to re-establish communication soon.
David Parker, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration, concluded the press conference by saying:Ā āMars exploration is hard, and thatās one of the reasons that we do it.ā
Not good signs
There was always a risk that this would happen. In practice tests, it was possible to track Schiaparelli throughout all of its landing procedure. But practice is not the same as the real thing. Lots of different factors could cause a lack of communication, such as the orientation of the probe.
āWe waited for the Mars Express measurement which was taken in parallel,āPaolo Ferri, ESA head of missions operations, said last night. āIt was of the same kind, it was only recording the radio signal. The signal came through at 6.30pm and confirmed exactly the same.
āThe signal went through the majority of the descent phase, but it stopped at a certain point that we reckon was before the landing. To conclude more on this, because there can be many, many reasons for that, we need more information. Itās clear these are not good signs.ā
Last night Ferri said their objective was to have a āvery good storyā before this morningās press conferenceĀ or they would look a ābit hopelessā.
Schiaparelli was only the second probe ESA has attempted to land on Mars. The first, Beagle 2, also suffered a radio blackout after detaching from its Mars Express mothership on Christmas Day 2003.
Anxious minutes of waiting turned into hours and days until scientists finally had to admit that the British-built craft was lost.
It was not until last year that scientists discovered the probe on the surface of Mars. Satellite images suggested two solar panels had failed to deploy, blocking its communications antenna.
A lot rides on this landingās success. The mission ultimately aims to land a rover on Mars in 2021, and so the two agencies involved ā and ā have to show they are capable of doing so.
ExoMars Rover will send a six-wheeled mobile laboratory built in the UK to the Red Planet to drill for soil samples and analyse them for signs of past or present life.
