This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37707776
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Wait continues for European Schiaparelli Mars lander | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
There is still no word on the fate of the European Space Agency's Mars lander, Schiaparelli. | |
The robot was supposed to have touched down on the Red Planet at 1458 GMT (1558 BST), but radio contact was lost in the minute before this time. | |
It was hoped that a satellite at Mars might have tracked the full descent, but it was unable to add any further insight. | |
This will likely stoke fears that Schiaparelli has been lost. | |
But the European Space Agency (Esa) will not be rushed to judgement. | |
It will wait on further information from yet more satellites at the Red Planet. | |
They may have detected something missed by the first orbiter, known as Mars Express. | |
Esa does have something to celebrate now, however. It has received confirmation from Schiaparelli's "mothership", the Trace Gas Orbiter, that it has successfully parked itself above the planet. | |
In the coming years, this spacecraft will study the atmosphere of Earth's near neighbour. | |
Landing on Mars is always a daunting prospect. | Landing on Mars is always a daunting prospect. |
It is a high-speed approach that has to be got just right or the spacecraft runs the risk of crashing into the ground. | It is a high-speed approach that has to be got just right or the spacecraft runs the risk of crashing into the ground. |
Schiaparelli had a heatshield, a parachute and rocket thrusters to try to get itself to the surface intact. | Schiaparelli had a heatshield, a parachute and rocket thrusters to try to get itself to the surface intact. |
If Schiaparelli is later confirmed as lost, it will be a major blow to Esa which suffered the disappointment of the Beagle-2 lander's failure at Mars in 2003. | |
That mission got down to the surface intact, but stopped working within minutes of its arrival. | |
Schiaparelli was conceived largely as a technology demonstrator - a project to give Europe the confidence to try to land a more ambitious six-wheeled rover on Mars in 2021. | |
This future vehicle was expected to use some of the same landing technology as Schiaparelli, including its doppler radar to sense distance to the surface, and its guidance, navigation and control algorithms. | |
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos |