[meteorite-list] Further Clues to Fate of Schiaparelli Mars Lander, Seen From Orbit

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6663

Further Clues to Fate of Mars Lander, Seen From Orbit
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 27, 2016

The most powerful telescope orbiting Mars is providing new details of 
the scene near the Martian equator where Europe's Schiaparelli test lander 
hit the surface last week.

An Oct. 25 observation using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment 
(HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows three impact 
locations within about 0.9 mile (1.5 kilometers) of each other. An annotated 
view is available online at

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21131

The scene shown by HiRISE includes three locations where hardware reached 
the ground. A dark, roughly circular feature is interpreted as where the 
lander itself struck. A pattern of rays extending from the circle suggests 
that a shallow crater was excavated by the impact, as expected given the 
premature engine shutdown. About 0.8 mile (1.4 kilometers) eastward, an 
object with several bright spots surrounded by darkened ground is likely 
the heat shield. About 0.6 mile (0.9 kilometer) south of the lander impact 
site, two features side-by-side are interpreted as the spacecraft's parachute 
and the back shell to which the parachute was attached. Additional images 
to be taken from different angles are planned and will aid interpretation 
of these early results.

The test lander is part of the European Space Agency's ExoMars 2016 mission, 
which placed the Trace Gas Orbiter into orbit around Mars on Oct. 19. 
The orbiter will investigate the atmosphere and surface of Mars and provide 
relay communications capability for landers and rovers on Mars.

Data transmitted by Schiaparelli during its descent through Mars' atmosphere 
is enabling analysis of why the lander's thrusters switched off prematurely. 
The new HiRISE imaging provides additional information, with more detail 
than visible in an earlier view with the Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars 
Reconnaissance Orbiter.

With HiRISE, CTX and four other instruments, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 
has been investigating Mars since 2006.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by 
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the 
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, 
Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the orbiter and 
collaborates with JPL to operate it. For additional information about 
the project, visit:

http://mars.nasa.gov/mro

News Media Contact
Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

Markus Bauer
European Space Agency, Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain
0031 61 594 3 954
markus.bauer at esa.int

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo at nasa.gov

2016-283