21-October, Paris – Issues during the breach of the atmosphere caused the Schiaparelli Mars lander of the ESA to crash. The parachute of the system jettisoned too early. Regardless of the failed landing attempt, the mission is still considered a partial success as two major concerns were whether or not the new heat-shield works and if Schiaparelli would submit data during the landing sequence. Both these milestones were achieved and future missions will not need to be canceled as of now. NASA images support the assumption of the crashed lander by identifying a crater that was not visible before the landing sequence of Schiaparelli.
Find more details and quotes on the full article on The Guardian.
YouTube: Schiaparelli Crash: The Picture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt_2zJVGfC8
Photo credit: ESA / P. Shlyaev
Source: Hannah Devlin (The Guardian)
