Schiaparelli Mars Lander Prepares For Descent, Separates From Mothership

The European spacecraft, Schiaparelli EDM lander, has reportedly detached from its mothership and is soon going to make a daring landing on Mars. The module is the European Space Agency's (ESA) first Martian probe in nearly 15 years.

Schiaparelli is designed to monitor aspects of the Red Planet's weather rather than probe for alien life, as per reports. The module will also examine a landing system which is going to be used for a rover mission in the future, to search for signs of both past and present life on Mars.

The module's predecessor, the Beagle 2 had vanished on December 25 in 2003, after detaching from the Mars Express orbiter. A better and more successful outcome is awaited for the new probe, and Schiaparelli is expected to make a landing on Wednesday, after a three day descent period.

ESA launched the module on March 14, and it is the first step of a joint mission with Russia to search for proof on life on Mars. Schiaparelli made the distance of 310 million miles to the Red Planet in seven months. However, all eyes are now on the tricky descent of the spacecraft on the planet's surface.

"Landing on Mars has always been a perilous endeavor, not least because Mars has an active weather and atmosphere," said Stephen Lewis, from the mission team. "Understanding the atmosphere on Mars now, and how the planet's climate has changed, is a key part of finding out whether Mars ever had a habitable environment and supports our understanding of our own climate."

One of the main roles played by Schiaparelli will also include testing the ExoMars Rover's parachute and retro-rocket landing system. Incidentally, the rover will be a six wheeled mobile laboratory that will be sent to Mars in 2020 to drill beneath the surface for samples which will be examined for signs of alien life.