Schiaparelli Mars probe's parachute 'jettisoned too early'

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37715202


Schiaparelli Mars probe's parachute 'jettisoned too early'

By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent, Darmstadt

18 minutes ago

From the section Science & Environment

Europe's Schiaparelli lander did not behave as expected as it headed down to the surface of Mars on Wednesday. Telemetry data recovered from the probe during its descent indicates that its parachute was jettisoned too early. The rockets it was supposed to use to bring itself to a standstill just above the ground also appeared to fire for too short a time. The European Space Agency (ESA) has not yet conceded that the lander crashed but the mood is not positive.

It is necessarily a high-speed approach that has to be just right or the spacecraft runs the risk of smashing into the ground. Schiaparelli had a heatshield, a parachute and rocket thrusters in order to slow its approach to the surface. If the robot is later confirmed as lost, it will clearly be a major blow to Esa which suffered the disappointment of the Beagle-2 lander's failure at Mars in 2003.

But officials here have underlined the fact that Schiaparelli was always viewed within the agency as a technology demonstrator - a project to give Europe the learning experience and the confidence to go ahead and land a more ambitious six-wheeled rover on Mars in 2021.
(snip)

This future vehicle is expected to use some of the same technology as Schiaparelli, including its doppler radar to sense the distance to the surface on descent, and its guidance, navigation and control algorithms. What will concern commentators is that the budget for the rover is not yet secure. If Schiaparelli is indeed lost, Esa officials may find themselves having to work harder to explain to member states why the extra investment remains worthwhile.
(snip)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. This is the reason Rocket Science is the expression it is. . . . nt

[Princess Turandot]

2. I watched some of their press conference earlier...

They were (understandably) mostly speaking of their success with putting the main satellite in orbit. But in terms of the lander, they were spinning like a top, emphasizing that they had gathered a lot of data, and that the lander was just a test.

When they opened it up for questions, the first reporter asked if they thought that the lander had crashed onto the surface of Mars. To which the ESA administrator replied, "I don't understand your question."

I certainly feel badly for them, but sheesh.

[Wilms]

3. Looks like they figured what happened.

Just need to figure the whys.

But it is at the end of the parachute phase that the data indicates unusual behaviour.

"We cannot resolve yet under which, let's say, logic that the machine has decided to eject the parachute. But this is definitely far too early compared to our expectations," Andrea Accomazzo, the head of operations for Esa's planetary missions, told BBC News.

Not only is the chute jettisoned earlier than called for in the predicted timeline, but the retrorockets that were due to switch on immediately afterwards are seen to fire for just three or four seconds. They were expected to fire for a good 30 seconds.

In the downlinked telemetry, Schiaparelli then continues transmitting a radio signal for 19 seconds after the apparent thruster shutoff. The eventual loss of signal occurs 50 seconds before Schiaparelli was supposed to be on the surface.

Exciting to think they'll at least be able to get a really good idea of what went wrong.