Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

At the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, a specialist from Airbus Defense and Space (Aquitaine) places an insulation tile on the exterior of Schiaparelli, the ExoMars entry, descent, and landing demonstrator module.
Credit: ESA – B. Bethge

Progress is being made on readying for liftoff next month of the European Space Agency’s 2016 ExoMars mission/

That mission to be launched via a Proton booster includes a Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and an Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM).

Schiaparelli is the name of that entry, descent and landing demonstrator module.

Finishing touches

ESA reports that the finishing touches are being made to the protective heat shield of Schiaparelli before it is joined to the Trace Gas Orbiter.

Given a successful launch in Mars, Schiaparelli will plunge through the Martian atmosphere in October of this year and experience very high temperatures.

The entry, descent and landing demonstrator module, Schiaparelli, is part of ESA’s ExoMars 2016 mission. Schiaparelli is shown in its surface configuration after descent through the Martian atmosphere.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Tile work

For most of the descent, a front heat shield and a rear cover will protect the module.

The front shield is a carbon sandwich structure covered with 90 insulating tiles. These tiles are made of Norcoat Liège, a thermal ablative material composed of resin and cork.

A team of specialists from Airbus Defense and Space (Aquitaine), who arrived in Baikonur last week, are now busy placing and sealing the last of the tiles on Schiaparelli’s heat shield and rear cover.

The Schiaparelli surface payload, based on the proposed DREAMS (Dust Characterisation, Risk Assessment, and Environment Analyser on the Martian Surface) package, consists of a suite of sensors to measure the wind speed and direction (MetWind), humidity (DREAMS-H), pressure (DREAMS-P), atmospheric temperature close to the surface (MarsTem), the transparency of the atmosphere (Solar Irradiance Sensor, SIS), and atmospheric electrification (Atmospheric Radiation and Electricity Sensor; MicroARES).
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

The final launch preparation activities for Schiaparelli are drawing to a close.