ExoMars update: Schiaparelli probe's parachute malfunctioned

The status of the Schiaparelli probe remains uncertain, leaving scientists at the European Space Agency baffled after the lander’s signal cut out unexpectedly. At a press conference this morning, ESA’s Director General, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, said the agency has not explicitly ruled the landing process as a fail, and is in …

[Tim Roberts 1]

I'll post before the detractors

Even getting there is an amazing achievement, so I hope the coulda/shoulda/woulda naysayers out there really have a good look at what was achieved compared to what was not achieved. There is nothing here on earth that is comparable to a mission to mars - no not even a mission to the ocean depths as there will be a cable to pull you back up.

Getting to mars is a success, not landing is a disappointment.

[JaffaMan]

Time for getting boots on there

Can we throw the Exo Mars money into a pot to get a human there please? 1 hr EVA with a geological hammer and hand auger would probably tell us more about Mars' geological past than we've learnt to date!

[Zmodem]

they should have tested it first

[Joe Werner]

"should have tested"

This *was* the test for the actual payload (rover) in 2020 under the correct conditions. Pretty tough to simulate the journey with nasty conditions plus the atmospheric conditions during the descent, right? I am sure they tested the rocket engines on Earth, and the computer systems as well.

It is disappointing, but hey, it made it there - and the Schiaparelli impactor was i) budged on last minute and ii) really just a test platform. It would have given interesting data on martian storms, though!

[Zmodem]

Re: "should have tested"

they could have shot it off the bottom of a plane, using some gas, like an ejector seat, 1 fail in a 100 and its time to redesign

[Mark Dempster]

Re: "should have tested"

>they could have shot it off the bottom of a plane, using some gas, like an ejector seat, 1 fail in a 100 and its time to redesign<

Firstly, I think they'd be very happy with a success rate much, much lower than 99%...

Secondly, testing in Earth atmosphere at any speed, especially after not enduring the months of travel in vacuum, is hardly a comparable test.

[Dr Patrick J R Harkin]

I hear Jeff Wayne is working on an ew album

♫ ♬ The chances of anything getting to Mars are a million to one, it seems ♪ ♬