WATCH LIVE @ 9 a.m. EDT: ExoMars Landing Webcast from European Space Agency

The European Space Agency will have live coverage of the ExoMars lander's touchdown on Mars in a series of webcasts. First, a Social TV program will cover the arrival and landing beginning and 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) and should also be simulcast in the window below. Then ESA's main program will follow in two parts, one from 11:44 a.m. – 12:59 p.m. EDT (1544–1659 GMT)and the other from 2:25 – 4:03 p.m. EDT (1825–2003 GMT). The webcasts are among a series of broadcasts by ESA to chronicle the ExoMars arrival. You can watch the webcast directly from ESA here and in the window below.Preview Story: High Stakes: Europe Aims for 1st Successful Mars Landing Today

In addition to text updates here and via our twitter channels, a short statement confirming the outcome of the separation will be streamed live from the main control room of ESA's Spacecraft Operations Centre starting at 14:30 GMT / 16:30 CEST.

19 October – landing and arriving at Mars

Live coverage of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter arrival and Schiaparelli landing on Mars will begin with our Social TV programme via ESA’s Facebook page and Livestream 13:00–15:15 GMT / 15:00–17:15 CEST on 19 October.

The ESA TV programme will be broadcast on this page in two parts on 19 October:

15:44–16:59 GMT / 17:44–18:59 CEST
18:25–20:03 GMT / 20:25–22:03 CEST

20 October – status report and first images

A press conference is scheduled for 20 October at 08:00 GMT / 10:00 CEST, when a mission status update is expected, along with the first images from the Schiaparelli descent camera. This will also be streamed live via the player above.

For additional mission status text updates starting 14 October, see here.

Times subject to change.

Mission Description from ESA

The ExoMars 2016 mission will enter orbit around the Red Planet on 19 October. At the same time, its Schiaparelli lander will descend to the surface. Representatives of traditional and social media are invited to attend a two-day event at ESA’s ESOC control centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

ExoMars is a joint endeavour between ESA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, and comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator.

TGO will make a detailed inventory of Mars’ atmospheric gases, with particular interest in rare gases like methane, which implies that there is an active, current source. TGO aims to measure methane’s geographical and seasonal dependence and help to determine whether it stems from a geological or biological source.

TGO will start its science mission at the end of 2017, following a year of complex aerobraking manoeuvres to circularise its orbit. It will also act as a relay for ESA’s ExoMars 2020 rover.

Schiaparelli will separate from TGO on 16 October, entering the atmosphere for a six-minute descent to a region in Meridiani Planum, on 19 October.

It will test a range of technologies to enable a controlled descent and landing on Mars in preparation for future missions, including a heatshield, a parachute, a propulsion system and a crushable structure.

Schiaparelli also carries a small science package that will record the wind speed, humidity, pressure and temperature at its landing site,as well as obtain the first measurements of electric fields on the surface of Mars that may provide insight into how dust storms are triggered.

The separation of Schiaparelli from TGO will be covered online. Media are invited to join mission experts at ESOC on 19 October to follow the orbit insertion of TGO and the landing of Schiaparelli, and to attend a briefing on 20 October when the first descent camera images are expected.

On Friday: Space Station Crew Arrives

A Russian Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft will arrive at the International Space Station on Friday (Oct. 21) at 5:59 a.m. EDT (0959 GMT) to ferry a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the orbiting laboratory. You can watch the arrival live here, beginning at 5:15 a.m. EDT (0915 GMT). 

"NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, will travel for two days in the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft to test upgraded spacecraft systems before docking to the space station’s Poisk module at 5:59 a.m. Friday, Oct. 21. NASA TV coverage of the docking will begin at 5:15 a.m.

"Hatches between the Soyuz and station will open at approximately 8:35 a.m., and the arriving crew will be welcomed on board by Expedition 49 Commander Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Kate Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who have been aboard the complex since July. NASA TV coverage of hatch opening and welcoming ceremonies will begin at 8 a.m.

"The original launch date of Sept. 23 was postponed due to a technical issue with the Soyuz spacecraft, which Roscosmos repaired.

"Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko will spend a little more than four months together aboard the orbital complex before returning to Earth in late February. The full six-person crew will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanity’s only microgravity laboratory."