Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → News

Orbiting probe take snapshot of Mars Landers’ grave — RIP, Schiaparelli

Footage from the crime scene.

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
October 25, 2016
in News, Space

exomars lander
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Just one minute before it commenced its descent to the red planet’s surface last week, all communications with ESA’s mars lander dropped and a link couldn’t be established afterward. It was a sad day for the hundreds of scientists, engineers, and staff from the European Space Agency who all expected the worse. Sadly, Schiaparelli seems to have indeed succumbed to a violent death as footage from the crime scene taken by an orbiting NASA spacecraft suggests.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured several photographs that show a bright feature that uncannily resembles a parachute and a dark patch that seems to be the lander’s crash site.

“Estimates are that Schiaparelli dropped from a height of between 2 and 4 kilometers [1.2 to 2.5 miles], therefore impacting at a considerable speed, greater than 300 km/h [186 mph],” the ESA wrote on its website. 

“The relatively large size of the feature would then arise from disturbed surface material,” they added. “It is also possible that the lander exploded on impact, as its thruster propellant tanks were likely still full. These preliminary interpretations will be refined following further analysis.”

The dark patch is only 3.4 miles west of Schiaparelli’s intended landing site, at Mars’ Meridiani Planum, and well within the 62 miles long by 9 miles wide crash ellipse calculated by scientists.

MRO used its low-resolution CTX camera to take these snapshots, but this week when it will make its next flyby the orbiter will use its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera which should give us a much better look.

Schiaparelli and the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). an orbiting spacecraft run by Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, travel in tandem to the red planet and separated shortly before the lander was supposed to make its soft landing. The TGO also had its watershed moments when it had to make a delicate 139-minute-long maneuver to lock itself into Mars’ orbit. All went well, and the TGO is now circling the planet every 4.2 days on a highly elliptical path. Its mission will be to study methane signatures, a low-abundance gas which is of particular interest for astrophysicists since it’s considered a proxy for life.

As for Schiaparelli, the lander was supposed to test technology that is destined to help a life-hunting rover safely touch down on Mars in 2021. At least ESA now knows how not to do it.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. A brief history of Martian spacecraft and landers
  2. Hydras rip their skin to open their mouths
  3. The new climate normal: Extreme, “once in a century” floods rip houses, kill dozens in Western Europe
  4. Touchdown: NASA’s InSight probe safely lands on Mars
  5. NASA’s InSight probe peers into the heart of Mars, sees Earth-like layers
Tags: esaExoMarsMars

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW