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Schiaparelli Mars Probe's Parachute 'Jettisoned Too Early', Whereabouts Still Unknown (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the too-early dept.

An anonymous reader writes: 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. Experts will continue to analyse the data and they may also try to call out to Schiaparelli in the blind hope that it is actually sitting on the Red Planet intact. In addition, the Americans will use one of their satellites at Mars to image the targeted landing zone to see if they can detect any hardware. Although, the chances are slim because the probe is small. For the moment, all Esa has to work with is the relatively large volume of engineering data Schiaparelli managed to transmit back to the "mothership" that dropped it off at Mars - the Trace Gas Orbiter.

2 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So it appears . . . by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Someone should go to jail for a very long time as soon as we figure out exactly what was screwed up.

    Really. Criminal conviction, huh? Programmer in prison? Are you even listening to yourself?

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  2. Grow up by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Billions of dollars spent on hardware, and some fuckup software dude sends the whole thing crashing to the ground

    The proximal cause of failure is unknown at this time. There are people smarter and harder working than you working on it.

    This pisses me off.

    Oh well then I'm sure they'll care more now that you are "pissed off".

    Someone should go to jail for a very long time as soon as we figure out exactly what was screwed up.

    Ok asshole... For what crime exactly? What law was broken that justifies jail time? How about you tell that to them in person Mr. Anonymous Coward. Actually never mind since you aren't brave enough to put your name to your idiotic rant. Grow up you pathetic twit.