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Note that the lander is Schiaparelli, TGO (Trace Gas Orbiter) is just the "mothership" which it uplinks to; TGO achieving orbit, though, is still a special achi

Note that the lander is Schiaparelli, TGO (Trace Gas Orbiter) is just the "mothership" which it uplinks to; TGO achieving orbit, though, is still a special achievement.

david-given 10y ago
TGO is the actual mission. The lander's just a technology demo --- important for the next ExoMars mission rover, but it was only going to last a few days anyway. Schiaparelli being lost is a 'well, go figure' moment; TGO being lost is an utter disaster. Unfortunately landers are sexy, while science-rich orbiting probes aren't, so it's Schiaparelli that's getting all the press.
- baq 10y ago
  i think it's more of a case of 'good news is no news' - failures are naturally more interesting than just saying that everything went according to the plan and we only have a few pics to show for it.
  - estel 10y ago
    Whilst that's true, the popular coverage before the landing (judged entirely from the BBC News home page) focused exclusively on the lander attempt rather than the orbiter.
    - lmm 10y ago
      BBC will focus particularly on the lander because it's the direct followup to the British Beagle 2.