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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 achievement.


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.


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.


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.


BBC will focus particularly on the lander because it's the direct followup to the British Beagle 2.




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