ExoMars: From separation to landing

On 16 October, seven months and 500 million km after launching from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, the joint European and Russian ExoMars 2016 mission reaches a crucial phase. The Trace Gas Orbiter will release its Schiaparelli lander for a three day coast and a six minute descent to the Martian lander, which was designed to demonstrate technologies for entry, descent and landing on Mars, is heading for the Meridiani Planum. This is an area that is currently being studied by NASA’s Opportunity rover a