The european module Schiaparelli crashed on Mars due to “a problem in the navigation program”, announced the agency AFP Thierry Blancquaert, responsible for the capsule of the landing of the European Space Agency (ESA).
Schiaparelli crashed on October 19 at the surface of Mars after you have deployed normally its parachute at an altitude of 12 km and a speed of some 1,730 km/h.
Just after opening the parachute, the capsule was a series of movements smooth and fast more important than predicted in the simulations, according to the preliminary results of the investigation disclosed by Blancquaert.
that’s why the tool that measures the accelerations of the module was on its indication maximum for a second; that is to say, more than expected, for only a few milliseconds.
“The navigation program is confused by the indication of that tool,” explained Blancquaert. “The on-board computer accumulated then an error important enough to your calculation to determine the position of Schiaparelli turns out to be wrong”.
“At that point, the module was still to 3.7 km of the surface of Mars and a result of calculation gave an altitude negative than -2 km”, said Blancquaert.
“The navigation system is then said ‘we have landed’”, he added. Then ordered the premature separation of the back shell and the parachute module. In addition, lit very briefly by the retrorockets, and is turned off when had to stop to Schiaparelli.
The capsule then descended in a free fall and crashed about Mars “at a speed of 540 km/h”.
A commission independent researcher on the causes of the incident will reveal its conclusions at the beginning of 2017.
Source: EFE
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