ESA's Schiaparelli Mars Lander Said to Have Failed As a result of Navigation Program Failure

Europe's Schiaparelli Mars lander failed last month following a sensor failure caused it to cast out their parachute and switch off braking thrusters more than two miles (3.7 km) above the outer lining of the planet, like it had previously landed, a written report introduced on Thursday said.The error stemmed from the momentary glitch in a computer device that calculated how fast the spacecraft was rotating, the record by the European Space Company said."When merged to the navigation process, the incorrect information produced an projected height that has been bad - that's, below soil level. This in turn successively activated a early discharge of the parachute ... and a quick firing of the braking thrusters," ESA said of its April 19 attempt to land the Schiaparelli spacecraft on Mars.