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FRANKFURT - A Mars lander is due to leave its mothership on Sunday and head toward the red planet’s surface to test technologies for Europe’s planned first Mars rover, which will search for signs of past and present life. After a seven-month journey from Earth as part of the European-Russian ExoMars program, the Schiaparelli lander is expected to separate from spacecraft Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) at 10:42 a.m. EDT and start a three-day descent to the surface.
The primary goal of ExoMars is to find out whether life has ever existed on Mars. The current spacecraft carries an atmospheric probe to study trace gases such as methane, around the planet. Scientists believe that methane, a chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life, could stem from micro-organisms that either became extinct millions of years ago and left gas frozen below the planet’s surface, or that some methane-producing organisms still survive.
originally posted by: EchoesInTime
I hope our experts can share more about this mission such as where it's landing and how soon might we get pictures if it's successful .
originally posted by: wildespace
Shame it doesn't have some cheap colour camera; it would have been nice to see the pics of its surroundings.
Prior to atmospheric entry at 14:42 GMT, contact via the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), the world’s largest interferometric array, located near Pune, India, was established just after it began transmitting a beacon signal 75 minutes before reaching the upper layers of the Martian atmosphere. However, the signal was lost some time prior to landing. A series of windows have been programmed to listen for signals coming from the lander via ESA’S Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Mars Atmosphere & Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probes. The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) also has listening slots. If Schiaparelli reached the surface safely, its batteries should be able to support operations for three to ten days, offering multiple opportunities to re-establish a communication link.
originally posted by: EchoesInTime
I don't know how the humanity is going to make it to Mars though, if we still can't 'stick the landing' .There is no way this mission to mars will happen in the time frame they announced.
(rather than borrowing from the US or Russia)