It is beginning to look like ESA's Schiaparelli Lander did not survive the landing attempt. Although data continues to be reviewed, photos of the area where it was to land show a new dark marking - crater - that could indicate a crash landing and explosion.
The other part of the mission, the Trace Gas Orbiter, is in orbit and working so this mission to the Red Planet is overall a success in terms of getting to Mars.
Getting to Mars is HARD and the Red Planet is littered with crash sites from NASA, Russia and ESA to prove it. ESA's lander was an engineering test vehicle so it was successful in that valuable data was returned during the descent until contact was lost.
Humans will keep trying.......
Sky Guy in VA
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