European Space Agency officials say they still do not know what happened to their Mars lander, which made a parachute descent through the planet's thin atmosphere Wednesday, but stopped transmitting signals about 50 seconds before its intended touchdown. But they haven't given up hope that the lander, known as Schiaparelli, survived the journey and will begin communicating from the surface of Mars before its batteries run out of power in a few days. Even if Schiaparelli crashed, ESA says the mission accomplished its primary goal to relay engineering data about the risky entry and descent through the atmosphere. Much of that information was picked up by Schiaparelli's mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter, which put itself into orbit around Mars at about the same time the lander was coasting on its parachute. "We have collected all the engineering data that (Schiaparelli) has produced. This is the most important thing. If you have a test, the test can go well, (or go) wrong, but the most important thing is to collect test data and this is what we have successfully done," Andrea Accomazzo, ESA's head of planetary missions, told reporters during a webcast press conference on Thursday. <a href="http://www.seeker.com/new-mars-satellite-slings-into-orbit-2054064696.html">RELATED: Not a Good Sign: Europe's Lander Went Silent During Mars Landing</a> Initial analysis indicates that Schiaparelli began deviating from the flight plan when it jettisoned its parachute. At that point, the lander was supposed to fire up three hydrazine thrusters to help control its speed, but it appears the burn lasted just three or four seconds, far short of expectations, Accomazzo said. "We do have all the data to find out what happened," he said. Schiaparelli was heading toward a region of Mars known as Meridiani Planum, near where NASA's long-lived Opportunity is exploring. The site is too far away for the rover to visit, but a pair of Mars orbiters, including the newly arrived Trace Gas Orbiter, will be listening for signals from the missing lander as they fly overhead. RELATED: Will ExoMars Find Life On The Red Planet?

European Space Agency officials say they still do not know what happened to their Mars lander, which made a parachute descent through the planet's thin atmosphere Wednesday, but stopped transmitting signals about 50 seconds before its intended touchdown.

But they haven't given up hope that the lander, known as Schiaparelli, survived the journey and will begin communicating from the surface of Mars before its batteries run out of power in a few days.

Even if Schiaparelli crashed, ESA says the mission accomplished its primary goal to relay engineering data about the risky entry and descent through the atmosphere.

Much of that information was picked up by Schiaparelli's mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter, which put itself into orbit around Mars at about the same time the lander was coasting on its parachute.

"We have collected all the engineering data that (Schiaparelli) has produced. This is the most important thing. If you have a test, the test can go well, (or go) wrong, but the most important thing is to collect test data and this is what we have successfully done," Andrea Accomazzo, ESA's head of planetary missions, told reporters during a webcast press conference on Thursday.

<a href="http://www.seeker.com/new-mars-satellite-slings-into-orbit-2054064696.html">RELATED: Not a Good Sign: Europe's Lander Went Silent During Mars Landing</a>

Initial analysis indicates that Schiaparelli began deviating from the flight plan when it jettisoned its parachute. At that point, the lander was supposed to fire up three hydrazine thrusters to help control its speed, but it appears the burn lasted just three or four seconds, far short of expectations, Accomazzo said.

"We do have all the data to find out what happened," he said.

Schiaparelli was heading toward a region of Mars known as Meridiani Planum, near where NASA's long-lived Opportunity is exploring.

The site is too far away for the rover to visit, but a pair of Mars orbiters, including the newly arrived Trace Gas Orbiter, will be listening for signals from the missing lander as they fly overhead.

RELATED: Will ExoMars Find Life On The Red Planet?

European Space Agency officials say they still do not know what happened to their Mars lander, which made a parachute descent through the planet's thin atmosphere Wednesday, but stopped transmitting signals about 50 seconds before its intended touchdown.But they haven't given up hope that the lander, known as Schiaparelli, survived the journey and will begin communicating from the surface of Mars before its batteries run out of power in a few days.Even if Schiaparelli crashed, ESA says the mission accomplished its primary goal to relay engineering data about the risky entry and descent through the atmosphere.Much of that information was picked up by Schiaparelli's mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter, which put itself into orbit around Mars at about the same time the lander was coasting on its parachute."We have collected all the engineering data that (Schiaparelli) has produced. This is the most important thing. If you have a test, the test can go well, (or go) wrong, but the most important thing is to collect test data and this is what we have successfully done," Andrea Accomazzo, ESA's head of planetary missions, told reporters during a webcast press conference on Thursday.<a href="http://www.seeker.com/new-mars-satellite-slings-into-orbit-2054064696.html">RELATED: Not a Good Sign: Europe's Lander Went Silent During Mars Landing</a>Initial analysis indicates that Schiaparelli began deviating from the flight plan when it jettisoned its parachute. At that point, the lander was supposed to fire up three hydrazine thrusters to help control its speed, but it appears the burn lasted just three or four seconds, far short of expectations, Accomazzo said."We do have all the data to find out what happened," he said.Schiaparelli was heading toward a region of Mars known as Meridiani Planum, near where NASA's long-lived Opportunity is exploring.The site is too far away for the rover to visit, but a pair of Mars orbiters, including the newly arrived Trace Gas Orbiter, will be listening for signals from the missing lander as they fly overhead.RELATED: Will ExoMars Find Life On The Red Planet?

Sometime next week, about 33 million miles from here, an ambitious li'l spacecraft will plummet down to the surface of Mars. Hopefully.In today's  DNews special report, <a href="http://www.seeker.com/community/trace_dominguez" target="_blank">Trace Dominguez</a> talks about the ExoMars expedition, which should go a long way toward telling us if there is life on the Red Planet.The <a href="http://exploration.esa.int/mars/" target="_blank">ExoMars mission</a> is actually a two-parter. The first is an orbiter and lander launched by the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency back in March. That's the spacecraft approaching Mars now. In 2020, a followup mission will put another orbiter and lander in play.The goal of both missions is to look for life on Mars, on the surface and from an orbital vantage point. The first lander is called the <a href="http://exploration.esa.int/mars/48088-mission-overview/" target="_blank">Schiaparelli</a>, which will detach from the orbiter and begin a solo flight to Mars for the last leg of its journey. If all goes according to plan, the Schiaparelli will enter Mars' upper atmosphere at an incredible 13,000 miles per hour.<a href="http://www.seeker.com/this-is-how-nasa-will-grab-rocks-from-mars-1979175737.html" target="_blank">RELATED: This Is How NASA Will Grab Rocks From Mars</a>The Schiaparelli will use heat shields, parachutes and a kind of cosmic airbag to make a soft landing on the surface. At that point, it becomes a temporary Mars weather station, measuring wind, air pressure, humidity and temperature at the landing site. The battery on the lander will only last two days, so it's got a limited lifespan. All the data it gathers will be beamed up to the <a href="http://exploration.esa.int/mars/46475-trace-gas-orbiter/" target="_blank">Trace Gas Orbiter</a> (TGO), which by that point will have taken up position in high orbit over Mars.The TGO will act as a relay station, beaming data from the lander back to Earth. But Mars' newest satellite has another job: It will map methane pockets in the Martian atmosphere, with the hope of pinpointing exactly where the gas is being produced. This may be the final key to unlocking the mystery of <a href="http://exploration.esa.int/mars/46048-programme-overview/" target="_blank">life on Mars</a>, because methane is often signals the presence of microbial life.All of this will set the stage for the second part of the mission, in 2020, when another orbiter-and-lander pair will use the data from the first expedition to hunt for specific <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biosignature" target="_blank">biosignatures </a>- chemicals that would be the first hard evidence of extraterrestrial life. Check out Trace's report for more details, or click on over to our report on <a href="http://www.seeker.com/curiosity-20-this-is-nasas-next-mars-rover-1925519598.html" target="_blank">Curiosity 2.0: NASA's Next Mars Rover</a>.-- <a href="http://www.seeker.com/community/glenn_mcdonald" target="_blank">Glenn McDonald</a>Register <a href="http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com/2016-final-event">here</a> to watch the 2016 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Final Event on Tuesday, October 18th, 2016 at 11am EST.Learn More:ESA: <a href="http://exploration.esa.int/mars/46124-mission-overview/" target="_blank">ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli Mission</a>Space.com: <a href="http://www.space.com/34341-european-spacecraft-mars-landing-next-week.html" target="_blank">European Spacecraft Prepares to Land on Mars Next Week</a>Science Alert: <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/two-space-agencies-will-attempt-an-historic-mars-landing-next-week" target="_blank">Two space agencies will attempt an historic landing on Mars next week</a>

Will ExoMars Find Life On The Red Planet?

Exploration

Space & Innovation

Hopes Are Dim for Europe's Missing Mars Lander

European Space Agency officials say they still do not know what happened to their Mars lander, which made a parachute descent through the planet's thin atmosphere Wednesday, but stopped transmitting signals about 50 seconds before its intended touchdown.

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Hopes Are Dim for Europe's Missing Mars Lander

Europe's space agency is confident they have the data in hand to learn what happened to Schiaparelli.