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Wait continues for European Schiaparelli Mars lander Fears grow for European Schiaparelli Mars lander
(about 3 hours later)
There is still no word on the fate of the European Space Agency's Mars lander, Schiaparelli. There is growing pessimism that a European probe which attempted to land on Mars on Wednesday has been lost.
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. Tracking of the Schiaparelli robot's radio signals was dropped less than a minute before it was expected to touch down on the Red Planet's surface.
It was hoped that a satellite at Mars might have tracked the full descent, but it was unable to add any further insight. Satellites at Mars have attempted to shed light on the probe's status without success.
This will likely stoke fears that Schiaparelli has been lost. One American satellite even called out to Schiaparelli to try to get it to respond.
But the European Space Agency (Esa) will not be rushed to judgement. The fear will be that the robot has crashed and been destroyed. The European Space Agency, however, is a long way from formally calling that outcome.
It will wait on further information from yet more satellites at the Red Planet. Its engineers will be running through "fault trees" attempting to figure out why communication was lost and what they can do next to retrieve the situation.
They may have detected something missed by the first orbiter, known as Mars Express. This approach could well last several days.
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. One key insight will come from Schiaparelli's "mothership" - the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).
In the coming years, this spacecraft will study the atmosphere of Earth's near neighbour. As Schiaparelli was heading down to the surface, the TGO was putting itself in a parking ellipse around Mars. But it was also receiving telemetry from the descending robot.
That telemetry could now hold vital clues as to what happened in the crucial minute before the expected touchdown.
Esa experts and those from the industries that built Schiaparelli will examine the downlinked data overnight. They will hold a press conference at 1000 local time (0900 BST; 0800 GMT) on Thursday.
If the mood here surrounding Schiaparelli's fate is sombre, there is at least good cheer in the performance of the TGO in getting into its right orbit above Mars.
This satellite is really the key part of the mission formally called ExoMars 2016 - a joint endeavour with the Russian space agency (Roscosmos). The TGO is going to spend the coming years studying the behaviour of gases such as methane, water vapour and nitrogen dioxide in the Red Planet's atmosphere.
Although present in only small amounts, these components - methane in particular - hold clues about Mars' current state of activity. They may even hint at the existence of life on the planet today.
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 necessarily a high-speed approach that has to be got just right or the spacecraft runs the risk of smashing 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 tin order 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. If the robot is later confirmed as lost, it will clearly 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. But officials here have underlined the fact that Schiaparelli was always viewed within the agency as a technology demonstrator - a project to give Europe the learning experience and the confidence to go ahead an land a more ambitious six-wheeled rover on Mars in 2021.
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 is typical for a test," said Prof Jan Woerner, Esa's director general. "We did this in order to get data on how to land on Mars with European technology. Therefore, all the data we will get this night will be used to understand how to manage the next landing when we go with the rover."
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. This future vehicle is expected to use some of the same technology as Schiaparelli, including its doppler radar to sense distance to the surface on descent, and its guidance, navigation and control algorithms.
What will concern commentators is that the budget for the rover is not yet secure. If Schiaparelli is indeed lost, Esa officials may find themselves having to work harder to explain to member states why the extra investment remains worthwhile.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmosJonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos