The European-Russian ExoMars mission has undergone a key moment on its way to the Red Planet. On 16 October 2016, at 1442 GMT, and at a distance of over 850,000 km from the planet Mars, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) released the Schiaparelli Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) lander so that it could continue it’s course to intercept the planet. The probe’s landing is predicted to take place in three days at 1448 GMT, on 19 October.
To ensure that the orbiter did not do the same, the ExoMars TGO then made a corrective burn to raise its “periares” from only 62 km to over 1,200 km making a planetary miss more certain. The burn commenced at 0242 GMT, 17 October, and lasted for 1 minute 46 seconds.
