International News

Mars lander touched down, status unknown: ESA

DARMSTADT, Germany, Oct 20 (APP/AFP) – A European lander despatched to the surface of Mars had touched down but was emitting no signal, said ground controllers Wednesday who did not know whether the craft was intact. “The lander touched down, that is certain,” Thierry Blancquaert, manager of the European Space Agency’s “Schiaparelli” lander told AFP. “Whether it landed intact, whether it hit a rock or a crater or whether it simply cannot communicate, that I don’t know.”