ExoMars mission analysis and Schiaparelli failure investigation

Exploring planets of our Solar System in order to find evidence of life has always been one of the main goals of ESA missions. As one of Earth’s nearest planetary neighbours, since the 60s Mars has been an international primary target for robotic exploration, also because there is ample evidence that liquid water existed and flowed on the surface in the past. With ExoMars Programme, ESA took a significant step forward this objective, starting a new phase of European exploratory mission of the so called “red planet”. In this paper I talk about how this programme has been designed from a technical point of view and what the first part of the mission ExoMars 2016 has achieved so far, drawing particular attention on the failure of Schiaparelli module landing happened on 19 October 2016, analysing the causes that carried to the anomaly and consequent crash on the surface of Mars. To do so, I took the data collected by Deimos Space in their first post-flight mission analysis together with ESA official report about the investigation that was made to understand what went wrong. Also, a small overview on the second part of the Programme that will start in 2020 is given, focusing on the main differences between the two. In the end, some conclusions about what we learned from this event and what it can bring in terms of acknowledgment for future mission are drawn, especially recommendations for the forthcoming ExoMars 2020.