ExoMars Mission: What happened to the Schiaparelli lander?
Updated
Schiaparelli, the lander craft that forms part of the ExoMars mission to find life on Mars, is missing.
Launched in March as part of a two-part joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency, Schiaparelli's goal was to touch down on Mars, measuring what happened along the way in preparation for the final stage of the mission, the landing of a rover in 2020.
After a manoeuvre in the early hours of October 20, the ExoMars spacecraft called the Trace Gas Orbitor (TGO) successfully went into orbit around the Red Planet, but scientists lost contact with Schiaparelli moments before it was due to land on the surface of Mars.
Although fears grow for the lander, scientists said the mission has been a success.
What happened?
Earlier this week the TGO released the dumpster-sized Schiaparelli more than 100 kilometres above the surface of Mars.
Three days later, the launcher entered Mars' atmosphere and made its way to the surface over a period of six minutes, reaching speeds of up to 21,000 kilometres per hour during its entry.
Schiaparelli was programmed to deploy a parachute about 10 kilometres above the surface, then use its rockets to slow from 250kph to just 4kph when it was about to reach the surface.
Canberra's Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is part of NASA's global Deep Space Network. Together with the network's sister stations in Madrid and California, Canberra has been tracking TGO and Schiaparelli on the journey through space over the last seven months.
The CDSCC tracked the mission on the final approach to the Mars before handing over to Spain for the last 50 minutes, education and public outreach manager Glen Nagle said.
"They were less than a minute from landing [when the signal was lost], so that probably places the spacecraft under a kilometre from the surface," he said.
"It was due to fire a series of small thrusters on board, to fly it down a last little short sojourn down to the surface. It would be landing at approximately 4kph."
Overnight, the ESA said the craft's thrusters appeared to have fired for only a few seconds.
What's next for Schiaparelli?
Over the coming days and weeks, scientists will continue to analyse information relayed in real-time by the lander to the Mars Express spacecraft, another European spacecraft that is orbiting Mars in the moments before it lost contact.
That includes things like descent speed, atmospheric pressure, and the turbulence and heat the craft would have experienced as it entered the atmosphere.
Schiaparelli is equipped with a "descent camera" that images its landing site as it approaches the surface of Mars.
ESA scientists will continue listening out for a signal relayed to various spacecraft such as the ESA's Mars Express and the US' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which are currently orbiting the Red Planet.
If Schiaparelli reached the surface safely, its batteries should be able to support operations for three to 10 days.
Schiaparelli's landing site on the Meridiani Planum is also relatively close to NASA's Opportunity rover, which had its cameras pointed towards Schiaparelli at the point the craft entered the atmosphere of Mars.
Mr Nagle said it was possible the Opportunity rover could have an image of the craft's entry, which along with photographs taken by Schiaparelli, could help locate where it may have landed.
As part of the Deep Space Network, the CDSCC will play a continuing role keeping an ear out for a signal from Schiaparelli — as well as continuing to track the TGO.
Is this a setback to the mission?
While the fate of Schiaparelli is unknown, the mission has still been a success, ESA scientists said.
The focus of Schiaparelli was to demonstrate a craft successfully entering the atmosphere of Mars, descending, and landing on the surface.
Once there, its scientific activities on the surface were relatively minor and included measuring wind speed and direction, pressure, and atmospheric electrification.
Mr Nagle said the data Schiaparelli had already sent back was a good outcome.
"If a signal is received, that's wonderful. They'll get more data from the spacecraft, they'll be able to perform a little bit of the science it was going to do as a bonus to this test mission," he said.
"If they don't, they'll have also learnt from that exercise. Going to Mars is notoriously hard, it's a very unforgiving planet. In this case, if they've got great data as they have from the entry and descent, that tells them a lot for planning for their next mission in 2020."
In 2020, another lander will deliver a rover to the surface of Mars. Schiaparelli is the test case for that landing, and the data retrieved from the mission will be used to shape the second phase of the ExoMars project in four years' time.
What will the Trace Gas Orbiter do now?
While Schiaparelli's landing hasn't entirely gone to plan, its mother craft — the Trace Gas Orbiter — is now in orbit around Mars.
The TGO, as its full name suggests, is going to study trace gases in the Martian atmosphere. In particular, the ESA is interested in methane.
Methane can be produced in two ways on a planet, by either geological activity or through biological activity. Scientists want to work out which of those two things is the source of methane on Mars.
"There's a possibility that somewhere below the surface of Mars there could be some deep geologic activity, we could measure the gases to know if it's that," Mr Nagle said.
"Or, look at the composition of that methane to know whether it's biological, which means life — which means there could potentially be some form of small bacteria, microbes, swimming around in subsurface rivers and lakes at Mars."
Later this year, TGO is due to start that science, which Mr Nagle said could tell us more about the story of life on the Red Planet.
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Topics: science-and-technology, planets-and-asteroids, astronomy-space, space-exploration, spacecraft, canberra-2600, european-union, russian-federation, australia
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