Footage Of ExoMars Lander Revealed

When the ExoMars lander landed on the Red Planet last week, it gauged a crater that is 1.5 feet deep and nearly 8 feet wide, as revealed by a NASA Mars orbiter.

The Schiaparelli lander, as it was known, deployed its parachute prematurely and didn't fire the thrusters long enough to get a soft landing as planned. The image, which was captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed the aftermath of the European shuttle's violent impact.

As Space.com noted, there are levels to the damage: the main crater, which the lander blasted out when it hit the surface at about 180mph. The fuzzy dark smudges around the crater are difficult to interpret at the moment, but these markings are asymmetrical, which shows that the impactor was traveling at a low angle - and the Schiaparelli should have been descending at pretty much perpendicular to the surface.

ESA officials said in a statement on October 27, "It is possible the hydrazine propellant tanks in the module exploded preferentially in one direction upon impact, throwing debris from the planet's surface in the direction of the blast, but more analysis is needed to explore this idea further."

Phys.org also noted that a full investigation is now underway regarding the cause of the problems encountered by the spacecraft in its final phase - until full analysis is completed, there is no way to say what really happened, and drawing conclusions as early as now will prove dangerous for the study. The latter stages include the descent sequence, from jettisoning of the rear shield and parachute, to the activation and early shut-off of the thrusters. These sequences are still being explored and findings are expected no later than mid-November this year.

The other half of the spacecraft - the Trace Gas Orbiter - aims to land on Mars in 2021 - and the data gathered during its lander's descent last week should be helpful for the ESA as it begins to move into its final orbit by March 2018.