Extract from ABC News
Photo:
The impact site of the Schiaparelli lander. (Supplied: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
New images from a NASA satellite indicate the
experimental Schiaparelli lander created a shallow crater on Mars when
it plummeted to the surface last week.
The European Space Agency (ESA) lost communication with Schiaparelli shortly before the probe was supposed to touch down on October 19.Two days later, pictures taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed a black spot at the landing site, indicating that the probe crashed at considerable speed — greater than 300 kilometres per hour — and may have exploded.
But new images have offered a more detailed look at the Schiaparelli components.
The ESA said it appeared Schiaparelli had dug a crater some 50 centimetres deep and about 2.4 metres across, visible in the images as the fuzzy, blackened impact site.
It is still analysing asymmetrical dark markings around the landing site, which it said may mean the craft's propellant tanks exploded largely in one direction.
There are also a number of white spots visible around the landing site, which the ESA said may or may not be related to the impact.
One of the larger white spots — about 1.4 kilometres south of the impact site — is likely associated with the parachute and back shield released from Schiaparelli prior to its final phase, the ESA said.
And a third feature — about 1.4 kilometres east of the impact site — is suspected to be the front heat shield.
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