Moment of truth awaits Europe's Schiaparelli Mars probe

Source: BBC


[font size=1]Model of Schiaparelli: It will gather weather data for a few days after landing[/font]

Moment of truth awaits Europe's Schiaparelli Mars probe

By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent, Darmstadt

19 October 2016 Science & Environment

The European Space Agency (Esa) is getting ready to put a probe on Mars.

Its Schiaparelli robot will attempt the risky descent to the surface in the coming hours, after a 500 million km journey from Earth.

The touchdown is regarded as a dress rehearsal for a much more important venture in four years' time when Esa will bid to place a very expensive rover on the planet.

This six-wheeled vehicle will drill beneath the surface to search for life.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37700042

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Source: Associated Press

Experimental European Mars Probe Set for Landing on Mars

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BERLIN — Oct 19, 2016, 4:53 AM ET

The European Space Agency is preparing to land an experimental probe on Mars, part of a mission that also will analyze the red planet's atmosphere to help determine whether there is or was life there.

ESA plans to put the Schiaparelli lander on the surface Wednesday following a controlled descent lasting less than six minutes.

Schiaparelli will take images of Mars and conduct scientific measurements on the surface, but its main purpose is to test technology for a future European Mars rover. ESA's last attempted Mars landing with the Beagle 2 rover failed in 2003.

Schiaparelli is part of the ExoMars program, a joint venture between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos. Its mother ship, the Trace Gas Orbiter, is to analyze methane and other gases in the atmosphere.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/experimental-european-mars-probe-set-landing-mars-42899844