Atmospheric mars entry and landing investigations & analysis (AMELIA) by ExoMars 2016 Schiaparelli Entry Descent module: The ExoMars entry, descent and landing science

On the 19th October 2016, Schiaparelli, the Entry Demonstrator Module (EDM) of the ESA ExoMars Program entered into the martian atmosphere. Although it did not complete a safe landing on Mars, it transmitted data throughout its descent to the surface, until the loss of signal at 1 minute before the expected touch-down on Mars' surface. The main objective of the Atmospheric Mars Entry and Landing Investigations and Analysis (AMELIA) experiment was the assessment of the atmospheric science and landing site by exploiting the Entry Descent and Landing System (EDLS) sensors of Schiaparelli beyond their designed role of monitoring and evaluating the performance of the EDL technology demonstrator. Although more limited than expected, the flight data received from Schiaparelli are essential to investigate the anomaly that caused the crash landing and for the achievement of the AMELIA scientific objectives. We will present our methodology and results for the reconstruction of the dynamics of the vehicles during the EDL phases from the available flight data in order to assess the trajectory and attitude of the Schiaparelli EDM and to retrieve the atmospheric profiles.