Posted on 10/25/2016 9:41:38 AM PDT by BenLurkin
By all accounts the descent started well, with the lander decelerating rapidly as it brushed up against the Martian atmosphere, eventually deploying its parachute as planned. But things began to go squirrely just prior to the five-minute mark of the planned six-minute descent.
For reasons that are still a mystery, the lander ejected both its heat shield and parachute way ahead of schedule. Schiaparelli then engaged its thrusters for a painfully brief three-second burst—a procedure that was supposed to last for 30 seconds once the lander was just a few feet off the ground. The lander’s onboard computer, it would appear, seems to have thought it was close to the surface. Indeed, Schiaparelli even took the time to switch on some of its instruments, including tools to record the planet’s weather and electrical field.
The sad reality is that Schiaparelli was still somewhere between 1.25 to 2.5 miles above the surface when this happened, falling at a rate of about 185 mph (300 km/h). It struck the ground with tremendous force, resulting in an explosion—and a brand new surface feature.
ESA’s head of solar and planetary missions, Andrea Accomazzo, suspects a flaw in Schiaparelli’s software, or a problem in integrating the data coming from different sensors. Some kind of glitch misinformed the lander about its position in time and space, causing it to execute landing procedures as if it were at a much lower altitude.
If confirmed, this would actually be good news, as software issues are much easier to correct than hardware problems. Researchers on the ExoMars team are confident in the integrity of Schiaparelli’s hardware, and they’re now hoping to replicate the software error using a simulation.
... ExoMars planners don’t have much time, as the second and most prominent part of the mission is scheduled for 2020
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
Software testing is your friend.
ML/NJ
“There’s nothing wrong with my code, dang it! The planet was just in the wrong place.”
Soros election software?
Wrong measurement system used. Oops.
Someone at mission control got their up button mixed up with their down button.
Good news - $250,000,000 at least for the thing, it crashes and this is good news? Only in the world of government bureaucrats spending other peoples' money is this good news.
It was a calibration error that switched the vote for Mars to a vote for Venus.
-PJ
Six Sigma woulda saved it. Like it saved DEC.
Of the 54 Missions that have encountered Mars since the first 1960 effort by the Soviet Union, there have been 30 whole or partial failures according to the Wikipedia Article on Mars Missions. In this case, it is listed as a partial failure as the orbital portion of the mission is operating. Of course, Mars is the most popular destination for exploration and inevitably has the most failures.
Hahaha! That’s perfect!
Damn metric system.
Programmed by H1B equivalents in the UK?
too bad it wasn’t running VMS..
Sure, blame the software. At least they didn’t blame Trump.
LOL, good one!
uh doubt it, cover up
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