The fate of a European probe supposed to have touched down on Mars on Wednesday remains a mystery.<br /><br /> At a news conference on Thursday morning, experts from the European Space Agency (ESA) admitted they can’t even be sure the Schiaparelli lander is still in one piece!<br /><br /> A problem arose as a parachute was released to slow its descent to the Red Planet.<br /><br /> Essential data from #ExoMars Schiaparelli is being decoded. What we know so far: https://t.co/ZflMgUTaMk pic.twitter.com/Y5qbqg0bvj— ESA_Schiaparelli (@ESA_EDM) 20 octobre 2016<br /><br /> Scientists said data had been received showing the parachute and the lander’s heat shield <br />deployed successfully, but that it was unclear what happened in the final seconds before landing and no data had yet been received from the surface.<br /><br /> Euronews reporter Jeremy Wilks attended the news conference in Darmstadt, Germany.<br /><br /> They got very very close with #Schiaparelli, but just not quite the final step.— Jeremy Wilks (@WilksJeremy) 20 octobre 2016<br /><br /> Schiaparelli, which is testing technologies for a rover due to follow in 2020, represents only the second European attempt to land a craft on Mars.<br /><br /> On the bright side, the lander’s mothership on the ExoMars mission – known as the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) – is functioning and successfully in orbit around the Red Planet.<br /><br /> YES! CONFIRMED! I’m in Mars orbit! #ExoMars pic.twitter.com/9qsegy8Hh2— ExoMars orbiter (@ESA_TGO) 19 octobre 2016<br /><br /> The ExoMars collaboration between the European and Russian space agencies is seeking signs of past and present life on Mars.<br />
