Frankfurt: Images taken by a NASA Mars orbiter indicate that Europe's missing Schiaparelli probe fell to the Red Planet's surface from a height of two to four kilometres and was destroyed on impact, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday.
"NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified new markings on the surface of the Red Planet that are believed to be related to ESA's ExoMars Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing," the ESA said in a statement on its website.
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"Schiaparelli entered the martian atmosphere at 14.42 GMT on October 19 for its six-minute descent to the surface, but contact was lost shortly before expected touchdown. Data recorded by its mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter, are currently being analysed to understand what happened during the descent sequence."
The agency said the probe would have hit the surface of Mars at more than 300km/hr.
"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 agency said.
The disc-shaped 577-kilogram Schiaparelli probe, part of a broader mission to search for evidence of life on the Red Planet, descended to Mars on Wednesday to test technologies for a rover that scientists hope to send to the surface of the planet in 2020.
![An artist's impression of how the Mars landing should have happened.](/web/20161024073612im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/d/7/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs871c.png/1477071700627.jpg)
However contact with the vehicle was lost around 50 seconds before the expected landing time, leaving it uncertain until the NASA images were received whether Schiaparelli made it to the surface in working order.
. @NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has imaged changes on #Mars surface linked
— ESA (@esa) October 21, 2016
to #ExoMars @ESA_EDM https://t.co/QN4BqV7xIR pic.twitter.com/BD7XKhB1oO
Reuters