Mars Lander Crash Landed On Mars: Preliminary Investigation

Experts are up to now tries to explore what is happening on the Red Planet. However, bad news came as the European Space Agency (ESA) found that the Mars lander crash landed on Mars due to malfunction.

The European Space Agency has found that the cause of the Schiaparelli probe's crash landing on Mars is due to a malfunction of the sensor. After a preliminary investigation, they have found that the onboard computer tasked to measure the rotation of the lander mistakenly detected that it was much closer to the surface of the planet. However, it is still more or less 2.29 miles or 3.37 km above Mars.

In a report by CNN, ESA said on Wednesday that the glitch triggered a knock-on effect that resulted in plummeting of the lander on Mars at 335 mph or 540 kph. ESA said in a statement that "This in turn successively triggered a premature release of the parachute and the backshell, a brief firing of the braking thrusters and finally activation of the on-ground systems as if Schiaparelli had already landed."

The director of ESA for human spaceflight and robotic exploration, David Parker said that, "This is still a very preliminary conclusion," David Parker, ESA's director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration. "The full picture will be provided in early 2017 by the future report of an external independent inquiry board," according to The Guardian.

The recorded data from the event enabled the European space officials to replicate simulations. They believe that up until that point, most of the Schiaparelli's mission had transpired as expected.

It apparently was not a happy ending. https://t.co/3lTTJF8xdT

— NewsChannel 12 (@wcti12) November 24, 2016

The Schiaparelli probe is named after the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. According to another CNN report, the probe is already part of a larger mission accompanied by the ExoMars craft, which is the Trace Gas Orbiter that successfully reaches Mars in October and orbit.

In line with this, President of Italy's ASI space agency Roberto Battiston said on Wednesday that, "ExoMars is extremely important for European science and exploration. Together with all the participating states in the program, we will work towards the successful completion of the second ExoMars mission."