Missing European craft 'crashed' into Mars
The lander was on a test-run for a future rover that will seek out evidence of life, past or present on the Red Planet
This handout picture released on October 21, 2016, by the European Space Agency shows the landing site of the Schiaparelli module within the predicted landing ellipse in a mosaic of images (up) and a pair of before-and-after images (down) from the Context Camera (CTX) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. PHOTO: AFP
PARIS:
A tiny European craft despatched to Mars for a trial touchdown Wednesday "crashed" into pieces on the Red Planet's surface instead, a European Space Agency mission manager told AFP on Friday.
Elon Musk unveils plan for Mars 'city'
A NASA photograph of the intended landing site confirmed the Schiaparelli craft, missing for two days, had "crashed on the surface of Mars", Thierry Blancquaert said by telephone from mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.
The craft "reached the Martian surface a lot faster than intended," he said.
Flight operations manager Michel Denis added that an image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed a "white spot, consistent with the size of a parachute. About two kilometres (1.2 miles) away, there is a black spot... most likely Schiaparelli's point of impact".
The black spot was "larger than it would have been if Schiaparelli was in one piece", said Denis. "It is smashed."
The lander was on a test-run for a future rover that will seek out evidence of life, past or present, on the Red Planet.
Obama vows to send people to Mars by the 2030s
It fell silent seconds before its scheduled touchdown, while its mothership Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) entered Mars' orbit as planned, part of a joint European-Russian project.
This is Europe's second failed Mars landing in a row, after the British-built Beagle 2 robot lab disappeared without trace after separating from its mothership, Mars Express, in 2003.
A tiny European craft despatched to Mars for a trial touchdown Wednesday "crashed" into pieces on the Red Planet's surface instead, a European Space Agency mission manager told AFP on Friday.
Elon Musk unveils plan for Mars 'city'
A NASA photograph of the intended landing site confirmed the Schiaparelli craft, missing for two days, had "crashed on the surface of Mars", Thierry Blancquaert said by telephone from mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.
The craft "reached the Martian surface a lot faster than intended," he said.
Flight operations manager Michel Denis added that an image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed a "white spot, consistent with the size of a parachute. About two kilometres (1.2 miles) away, there is a black spot... most likely Schiaparelli's point of impact".
The black spot was "larger than it would have been if Schiaparelli was in one piece", said Denis. "It is smashed."
The lander was on a test-run for a future rover that will seek out evidence of life, past or present, on the Red Planet.
Obama vows to send people to Mars by the 2030s
It fell silent seconds before its scheduled touchdown, while its mothership Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) entered Mars' orbit as planned, part of a joint European-Russian project.
This is Europe's second failed Mars landing in a row, after the British-built Beagle 2 robot lab disappeared without trace after separating from its mothership, Mars Express, in 2003.