OPENSPACE 22: Rosetta: Making Space History | Page 16

ESA COMPLETES
FIRST PART OF
EXOMARS MISSION
After a journey across the solar
system of seven months and half a
billion kilometers, ESA’s ExoMars
mission reached Mars on
October 19.
A
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16 OpenSpace 22
fter a journey across the solar system a year flying the TGO into an orbit from which
of seven months and half a billion it can start analyzing the Martian atmosphere.
kilometers, mission Sensors on board the orbiter are designed to
finally arrived at Mars on October 19. At 17:24
ESA’s
ExoMars
detect atmospheric gases, including methane,
CEST, the trace gas orbiter (TGO) successfully which could be evidence for possible biological or
performed the 139-minute burn that enabled it to geological activity in Mars.
enter an elliptical orbit around the red planet, while A full investigation by ESA is trying to identify
Schiaparelli, the Mars landing module, crashed the cause of the problems encountered by
on the planet’s surface after the parachutes Schiaparelli during the descent. What we know
weren’t able to slow down the craft due to Mars’ so far is that the lander entered the Martian
thin atmosphere. atmosphere some 107 minutes after TGO started
TGO’s Mars orbit insertion burn lasted from 15:05 its own orbit insertion maneuver. However, the
to 17:24 CEST, and it reduced the spacecraft’s lander seemed to disappear about 50 seconds
speed and direction by more than 1.5 km/s. The before it was supposed to land. According to the
TGO is now on its planned orbit around Mars first data released by ESA, the parachute and rear
and is the more important of the two probes. heatshield were ejected from Schiaparelli earlier
ESA’s flight engineers will now spend more than than anticipated. Schiaparelli is thought to have