Schiaparelli (EDM)

Launch data: Designation   / 16017 Launch date  14 Mar 2016 - 09:31 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC-200/39 Launch vehicle  Proton-M Briz-M Mission  Mars lander Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  1000? x -71600? km Eccentricity   Inclination  51.6 ° Period   min Separation from TGO  16 Oct 2016 - 14:42 UT Entry, Descent date  19 Oct 2016 (br /> (lost on descent)

Schiaparelli demonstrator module pictured prior to the start of thermal tests in the ESP70 Thermal Vacuum Chamber at the Thales Alenia Space premises in Cannes, France.

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  Thales/Torino (formerly Fiat) Platform   Operator   Mass at launch  577 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array   Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power

Schiaparelli separation from TGO.

End of live:

Description:

• The first ESA ExoMars mission was launched on Mar 14 aboard a Proton from Baykonur. The main spacecraft on this mission is the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which is intended to enter Mars orbit and study its atmosphere.
• Attached to it is the Schiaparelli EDM. The EDM is the EDL Demonstrator Module, where EDL is "Entry, Descent and Landing". EDM consists of an aeroshell containing the EDM Surface Platform (ESP, a triply-nested three-letter-acronym proving that ESA can compete with NASA in the TLA race). EDM will attempt to land on the surface as a technology demonstration, and carries a small meteorology payload.
• The TGO carries a color and stereo camera, IR and UV spectrometers, a neutron detector, and a communications relay package to support future surface missions. The combined spacecraft has a mass of 4332 kg. TGO was built by Thales/Cannes (formerly GTC/Sud Aviation) and EDM by Thales/Torino (formerly Fiat).
• The EDM is scheduled to separate from TGO three days before Mars arrival (around Oct 19, 2016) and should enter the Martian atmosphere on a hyperbolic trajectory towards a landing site at 6.1W 1.9S in Meridiani Planum. After entry a parachute slows the vehicle, the back cover and forward shield are jettisoned, and thrusters slow the ESP further. The ESP underside consists of a crushable structure to absorb impact with the surface.
• TGO is equipped with a suite of science instruments in order to study the Martian environment from orbit. Although mostly a technology demonstrator, Schiaparelli is also carrying a small science payload to perform some observations from ground.
• ExoMars 2016 is the first part of a two-fold international endeavour conducted by ESA in cooperation with Roskosmos in Russia that will also encompass the ExoMars 2020 mission. Due in 2020, the second ExoMars mission will include a Russian lander and a European rover, which will drill down to 2 m underground to look for pristine organic material.

Mission details:

• At 0931 UTC Mar 14, 2016 Proton-M No. 93560 was launched from area 200 at Baykonur into a suborbital trajectory. On board was the ESA ExoMars mission consist of the spacecraft TGO and the landing module EDM.
• The 577-kg EDM was released by the TGO at 14:42 GMT on 16 October 2016.Schiaparelli was programmed to autonomously perform an automated landing sequence, with parachute deployment and front heat shield release between 11 and 7 km, followed by a retrorocket braking starting at 1100 m from the ground, and a final fall from a height of 2 m protected by a crushable structure.
• Schiaparelli coasted towards its destination, entered the Martian atmosphere at 21 000 km/h, and decelerated using aerobraking and a parachute. It was planned to then brake with the aid of a thruster system before landing on the surface of the planet, but an anomaly in the measurement and navigation system meant that the parachute and the backshell were prematurely released, followed by 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.
• From its coasting to Mars until shortly before it reached the surface, Schiaparelli communicated with the Trace Gas Orbiter or with Mars Express. The contact via the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), the world′s largest interferometric array, located near Pune, India, was established just after it began transmitting a beacon signal 75 minutes before reaching the upper layers of the Martian atmosphere.
• If Schiaparelli reached the surface safely, its batteries should be able to support operations for three to ten days, offering multiple opportunities to re-establish a communication link.