Photos: Europe's ExoMars Missions to Mars in Pictures

ExoMars' Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli Lander

ESA/ATG medialab

Artist’s illustration showing the separation of the ExoMars 2016 entry, descent and landing demonstrator module, named Schiaparelli, from the Trace Gas Orbiter, and heading for Mars.

ExoMars Launch

ESA

The first phase of the ExoMars mission flew toward the Red Planet atop a Russian-made Proton-M rocket on March 14, 2016.

ExoMars Liftoff

ESA

The first of two phases of the European/Russian ExoMars mission successfully launched into space aboard a Proton-M rocket on March 14, 2016.

ExoMars Proton-M Rocket Engines

ESA

A Russian-made Proton-M rocket successfully launched the European/Russian ExoMars mission into space on March 14, 2016.

ExoMars Launchpad

ESA

A Russian Proton-M rocket sits patiently on the launch pad on March 14, 2016, ready to send the first phase of the European-Russian ExoMars mission on its way to the Red Planet.

ExoMars in Flight

ESA

The first phase of the joint European/Russian ExoMars mission soared through the clouds on its way to the Red Planet, atop a Proton-M rocket on March 14, 2016.

First Images from CaSSIS

ESA/Roscosmos/ExoMars/CaSSIS/UniBE

Image of a 0.9 mile (1.4 kilometer) sized crater (left center) on the rim of a larger crater near the Mars equator. It was acquired at 7.2 meters/pixel by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) aboard the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

CaSSIS Scopes Out a Volcano

ESA/Roscosmos/ExoMars/CaSSIS/UniBE

A structure called Arsia Chasmata on the flanks of one of the large Martian volcanoes, Arsia Mons. This view was created by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) aboard the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The width of the image is around 16 miles (25 kilometers). The formation is volcanic in origin, and pit craters are visible.

Stereo Imaging with CaSSIS

ESA/Roscosmos/ExoMars/CaSSIS/UniBE

Image of a 0.9 mile (1.4 kilometer) sized crater (left center) on the rim of a larger crater near the Mars equator. It was acquired at 7.2 meters/pixel by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) aboard the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

ExoMars' Schiaparelli Lander Model Tests

B. Bethge/ESA

A model of ExoMars' Schiaparelli lander prepares for thermal tests in Cannes, France. The European Space Agency's Mars lander will hurtle to the planet's surface Oct. 19, and its heat shields will have to withstand about 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius).

Color Photo of ExoMars Lander Crash Site

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

These images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 1, 2016, show the wreckage of Europe’s Schiaparelli lander, which crashed on the Red Planet on Oct. 19, 2016. At top is the crater caused by the lander’s impact; at bottom left is the craft’s parachute and attached back heat shield. The feature at bottom right is thought to be the front heat shield. The 10-meter scale bar applies to all three portions of the image.

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