Schiaparelli descent imaging in context
Date: 12 October 2016
Satellite: Schiaparelli
Copyright: central region: NASA/JPL/MRO; background image: THEMIS daytime infrared map from Mars Odyssey; simulation: ESA
Schiaparelli's 100 × 15 km landing ellipse, with the simulated descent imaging sequence indicated.
In this simulation, the 'footprints' of Schiaparelli's 15 descent camera images follow a roughly clockwise order, as seen in this view from larger to smaller fields-of-view. In this simulated view, the first image is taken at about 3 km altitude and covers roughly 17 sq km, while the final image is taken at about 1.5 km and covers 4.6 sq km. The images are taken every 1.5 s.
The corresponding individual images can be seen here.
The scene captured by each image on 19 October will depend on the actual altitude, but also due to the movement and rotation of Schiaparelli during the six-minute descent through the atmosphere.
The view is generated from a NASA MRO/CTX image of the centre of the Schiaparelli landing ellipse.
