Images reveal what happened to the Mars lander

NASA is continuing to aid in the search for information regarding the crash of Mars lander, Schiaparelli, which is part of the joint European and Russian ExoMars 2016 mission.

Images taken by the agency's HiRISE camera on October 25 show a trio of distinct marks located just under a mile of one another.

The darkened rough circular form is believed to be the crash site of the test craft itself, while the area containing bright spots is the likely landing place of the heat shield.

The third patch, which contains two adjacent surface abnormalities, is the probable resting place of the parachute and its attached back shell.

NASA plans to take additional images at differing angles in an effort to provide more clarity about what happened.

The Schiaparelli craft crashed during its descent to the Martian surface and shortly after its thrusters experienced a malfunction.