Oblique view of the Schiaparelli landing site
Oblique view of the Schiaparelli landing site
On 19 October, the ESA landing demonstrator Schiaparelli (Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module, EDM) will land in the Meridiani Planum. Schiaparelli will test different technologies and determine which ones should help the second part of the mission, ExoMars 2020 with the Pasteur Rover as a scientific payload, make a safe landing: Materials for the thermal protection system, a parachute, a radar altimeter and a thruster system for the final landing phase. The crater in the foreground has a diameter of about 25 kilometres.
