NASA's Mars Reconaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has provided new high-resolution images of the crash site of the Schiaparelli lander. The images support suggestions that the landing for the module was very difficult, and also raise new questions about the nature of this accident.
Investigation into the causes of the crash of the Schiaparelli module of the European Space Agency began a week ago, immediately after the module lost radio contact with the Earth. The module itself was a demonstration prototype, whose task was to test the technologies that will be used when landing (hopefully, as one whole) a new rover on the Red Planet in 2020.
Last week, one of the cameras on the MRO orbiter took a photo of the place where ESA was about to softly land the Schiaparelli. The image clearly shows a bright point, which is actually a shot off the module's parachute, a small area of what appears to be a scorched surface and the very remnants of the crashed Schiaparelli itself.
Schiaparelli crash site, photographed by the MRO orbiter on October 20
Recently, the MRO probe once again flew over the crash site and took a high-resolution photograph of the crash site, as well as a shiny object 1.4 kilometers south of the crashed module, which was confirmed to be a parachute and a rear heat shield. The third object, located 1.4 kilometers from the crash site, is most likely the frontal thermal shield of the module.
The sight of the crash site makes you wonder. The shape of the impact crater from the fall of the module and the scattered debris of the Schiaparelli is more like the result of the fall of some meteorite at a low angle. The fact is that ESA had previously reported that the descent of Schiaparelli, before the landing system turned off the landing engines ahead of time, was almost vertical. The long, dark, curved strip on the surface just northeast of the crash site has so far defied any explanation. It is possible that both of these moments are somehow connected with an explosion that could have occurred in one of the fuel tanks of the module and are the result of the remaining unused fuel. However, further analysis is required to confirm this hypothesis.
Promotional video:
Currently, the ExoMars space mission team is examining telemetry data from the Schiaparelli mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter, as well as information from other orbiters and ground-based telescopes. All indications are that the landing started well, but a series of events in the last minute of landing led to the accident. First, the parachute and the rear heat shield were unfastened ahead of time. Then the landing engines first started up, and then stopped their work ahead of schedule, having worked only 3 seconds instead of the planned 30 seconds.
In general, everything so far indicates that the cause of the crash is software errors. The module's computer for some reason misinformed the landing system about the position and altitude of the Schiaparelli, which led to the premature launch of the programmed sequence of commands. If so, it will be good news for ESA: software errors are much easier to solve than hardware errors.
The investigation into the causes of the Schiaparelli accident is far from complete. In the coming weeks, new images are planned with the MRO orbiter. In addition, it is necessary to understand the data obtained from the TGO probe. ESA promises to sort out all the details by mid-November.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK