PARIS: Europe will send a tiny lander on a scorching, supersonic tumble to Mars on Wednesday and place a gas-sniffing probe in the Red Planet’s orbit in a daring quest with Russia for extraterrestrial life.
High-stakes manoeuvres should see a test lander dubbed Schiaparelli make a dangerous dash for the surface at 1442 GMT, while the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) enters a gravity loop around our planetary neighbour.
The pair have made a 496-million-kilometre (308 million-mile) trek from Earth since their launch in March.
They comprise phase one of the ExoMars mission through which Europe and Russia seek to join the United States in roaming the hostile Martian surface.
Commands for both spacecraft have already been uploaded, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday, and were “ready for execution” on Wednesday.
“All is well for the moment,” Schiaparelli manager Thierry Blancquart told AFP.
