ESA's Schiaparelli Lost

After traveling almost 700 million miles, plus being only one minute from gaining the

surface, ESA's Martian lander Schiaparelli signal was lost.

The Schiaparelli lander showed the first signs of abnormalities soon   after it released its parachute 1km from the surface and the signal went dead soon afterwards, ESA scientists said on Thursday, leaving them unsure of where the probe is and whether it crash-landed.

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New Life Sciences probe to Mars in 2013

30 years ago, NASA sent the Viking probes to Mars in the hopes of discovering life. Though there were encouraging results from some of the tests, evidence of life on Mars was and is still inconclusive.

Now the European Space Agency will deliver the first comprehensive life-detection science package since Viking to the martian surface with its ExoMars mission. ExoMars will consist of an orbiter and a lander, and also a rover capable of traveling several kilometers. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in 2013.

posted by Shaun A. Saunders