The European Space Agency is putting a spacecraft in orbit around Mars and landing a module on the planet’s surface.
On Wednesday, if all goes to plan, a joint European and Russian Mars mission called ExoMars will reach two important milestones. Here is what you need to know.
ESA/ATG medialab / Via exploration.esa.int
A lander called Schiaparelli will touch down on the surface of Mars.
It was launched along with an orbiter in March this year and has just reached the red planet. Schiaparelli separated from the orbiter a few days ago, and will do its entry, descent, and landing on Wednesday. It's due to enter the atmosphere at 3.42pm UK time and land at 3.49pm.
You can watch a video showing how it'll reach the planet here.
ESA / Via esa.int
Around the same time, a spacecraft called the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will enter orbit around Mars.
At about 2pm UK time, the spacecraft will turn and then fire its engine for just over two hours (134 minutes, to be precise) to slow it down long enough that it can be captured by Mars's gravity.
Instructions for the manoeuvre have already been uploaded to the spacecraft, so all the scientists can do now is wait.
ESA / Via exploration.esa.int
Schiaparelli is basically a test of how to land successfully on Mars.
To explore other planets in detail, first you have to land on them – intact, and in the right place. The European Space Agency (ESA) calls successfully pulling off the entry, descent, and landing procedures one of the "greatest challenges in space exploration", and it's using Schiaparelli as a test case.
A bunch of new technology will be used during the landing, including a parachute and liquid propulsion braking system, to slow the module down from its speed of 21,000km per hour to zero. Sensors will be monitoring the whole process and reporting back to Earth. If all goes well, the same technologies will be used in future European Mars missions.
The lander will also do a tiny bit of work while its on the planet, but its scientific mission will only last for a few days, running off excess battery power from the landing. The lander will be investigating what's going on in the atmosphere of the planet and measuring its electrical field.
Schiaparelli will land on the Meridiani Planum, a site of interest to scientists because of the layer of iron oxide they've spotted there. On Earth, iron oxide tends to mean water is present.
ESA/ATG medialab / Via exploration.esa.int
from BuzzFeed - Kelly Oakes http://ift.tt/2dYHTbh