Tag: Mars
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SpaceX’s Elon Musk geeks out over Mars interplanetary transport plan on Reddit
An artist’s conception shows SpaceX’s Interplanetary Transport System lifting off with a refueling tanker sitting beside it. (Credit: SpaceX) In the weeks ahead, SpaceX plans to pressure-test a prototype carbon fiber tank on an oceangoing barge, to gauge how well the technology will stand up to the oomph that’d be required for trips to Mars. The…
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NASA’s Mars orbiter spots the blackened remains of Europe’s lost Schiaparelli lander
This image from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the landing zone for the European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli probe on Mars. Analysts say the bright spot shows where the lander’s parachute fell, and the black spot shows where the lander hit. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS) NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has caught sight of the blackened spot…
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Mars orbiter locates Schiaparelli lander’s crash site
Before-and-after images of the Schiaparelli landing site taken May 29, 2016, and on Thursday show two new features attributed to the lander. A dark fuzzy marking near the top of the frame is from the impact of the Schiaparelli lander, and a bright dot lower in the image is likely the lander’s parachute. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS…
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What went wrong with Europe’s Mars lander? Signs point to parachute
An artist’s conception shows the Schiaparelli lander at the end of its parachute. (Credit: ESA) The European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli lander apparently crashed after its parachute was ejected too early and its thrusters switched off too soon, according to data relayed back from its orbiting mothership. “We have data coming back that allow us to fully understand the steps…
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Last data from Schiaparelli Mars lander hold clues to what went wrong
Artist’s concept illustrating the moment the Schiaparelli lander was to jettison its back shell and parachute and ignite its descent engines. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab The first sign of trouble from Europe’s Schiaparelli lander came around the time the probe was supposed to jettison its parachute and fire thrusters to brake for touchdown on the vast…
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Live coverage: ExoMars orbiter steers into orbit around Mars, lander’s fate TBD
Live coverage of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander arriving at Mars. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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ExoMars completes crucial orbit insertion, hope lost for lander
After a seven month cruise between worlds, ESA and Russia’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and the Italian Space Agency’s Schiaparelli lander arrived for their crucial orbit insertion burn (TGO) and landing (Schiaparelli) on Mars. Schiaparelli’s trip to the surface gained a large amount of data, but suffered a crash landing. However, TGO’s Mars Orbit Insertion was…
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European Space Agency hails orbiter’s arrival at Mars but loses track of lander
An artist’s conception show the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter releasing the Schiaparelli lander for its descent to Mars. (Credit: D. Ducros / ESA) For the first time in 13 years, the European Space Agency has put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars – and has sent a piggyback lander to an unknown fate…
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ESA celebrates ExoMars orbiter success, keeps vigil for lost lander
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter firing its main engine to enter orbit around Mars. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab A European-built orbiter designed to seek out the source of methane on Mars slipped into orbit around the red planet Wednesday after a seven-month interplanetary journey, but mission control lost contact with an experimental landing…
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European Mars lander released from ExoMars mothership
Artist’s concept showing separation of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli landing module. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab A saucer-shaped entry, descent and landing demonstrator separated from Europe’s ExoMars orbiter Sunday, beginning a three-day approach aiming to become the first European-built craft to set down on the red planet and return data. Named for Giovanni…