Many theories had been floating on what caused the crash of Schiaparelli, the lander of European Space Agency's ExoMars program that was on a mission to trace evidence of life on the Red Planet. Some basic findings by the European Space Agency say it was a case of misjudgment.
Conceived as a technology demonstrator, Schiaparelli was supposed to give the learning experience for Europe in going ahead with the Mars mission in 2021.
The crash of Schiaparelli on Martian surface left a crater of 1.6 feet deep and 8 feet wide, according to NASA images.
Preliminary Findings From The ESA
According to the preliminary findings of the ESA, Schiaparelli misinterpreted sensor data that it was at below ground level when actually it was at an altitude of 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers).
The wrongly interpreted data led Schiaparelli to leave the parachute too early, and a free fall followed, which ended up in its destruction.
"This is still a very preliminary conclusion of our technical investigations," said David Parker, Director of ESA Human Spaceflight.
ExoMars began the journey on March 14, and on Oct. 16, the Schiaparelli module separated to descend on Mars' rocky surface. It was backed by a removable heat shield, parachute and thrusters to decelerate with a crushable structure, cushioning the final impact.
According to reports, the crash was caused by the premature deployment of parachute and failure in firing thrusters to facilitate a soft landing on Oct. 19.
Parker said the complete picture of the crash will be out by early 2017, when the external inquiry board submits the report.
Botched Computer Readings
According to the brief by the European Space Agency, the mission was all going fine, barring last-minute computer glitch that wrongly measured the rotation of the lander and gave an extreme reading that botched all other calculations.
"A premature release of the parachute and the backshell (heat shield), a brief firing of the braking thrusters and finally activation of the on-ground systems as if Schiaparelli had already landed. In reality, the vehicle was still at an altitude of around 3.7 km," the ESA said in a statement.
When Schiaparelli was to slip into Mars surface from the Mars' thin atmosphere, the speed had to be reduced from 13,000 miles (21,000 kilometers) per hour to zero and brave temperatures of 1,500 degrees Celsius.
The good news is that despite the Schiaparelli crash, the orbiter's mission controllers are conducting first test observations to make sure that the spacecraft is working fine ahead of the science mission in March 2018.
The aerobraking is expected to be finished by then, and the Trace Gas Orbiter will also move into a circular orbit.
