Radio Contact Lost as Mars Roving Robot Lands on Red Planet

ESA said that the signal from a robotic probe of Mars went dark shortly before the vessel landed on the planet’s surface, with scientists scurrying to re-establish contact.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The signal from a robotic probe of Mars went dark shortly before the vessel landed on the planet’s surface, with scientists scurrying to re-establish contact, the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a press release on Wednesday.

"The signal was lost some time prior to landing," the release stated. "If Schiaparelli reached the surface safely, its batteries should be able to support operations for three to ten days, offering multiple opportunities to re-establish a communication link."

Schiaparelli is the name of the vehicle which exited an orbiting satellite on Wednesday in the ExoMars 2016 mission, which is a project of the European Space Agency with help from Russia’s Roskosmos Space Agency.

A second Mars exploration mission is planned for 2020.