A number of high-profile missions lifted off, others reached their destinations after long journeys through deep space, and a few, sadly, crashed and burned. Some of the most exciting spaceflight action of 2016 involved rockets coming down rather than going up. California-based company SpaceX managed to land the first stage of five different Falcon 9 rockets during operational orbital launches this year; one of the boosters touched down back at the launch pad, whereas the other four landed on robotic "drone ships" stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. And the Washington-based company Blue Origin launched and landed the same suborbital New Shepard rocket four times this year, finally retiring the booster after a successful October test flight . Both SpaceX and Blue Origin -- which are headed by billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, respectively -- aim to develop fully reusable rockets as a way to slash the cost of spaceflight and open up the heavens to exploration.

PARIS – A tiny lander that crashed on Mars last month flew into the Red Planet at 540 kilometers (335 miles) per hour instead of gently gliding to a stop, after a computer misjudged its altitude, scientists said. Schiaparelli was on a test-run for a future rover meant to seek out evidence of life, past or present, but it fell silent seconds before its scheduled touchdown on October 19. After trawling through mountains of data, the European Space Agency said Wednesday that while much of the mission went according to plan, a computer that measured the rotation of the lander hit a maximum reading, knocking other calculations off track. That led the navigation system to think the lander was much lower than it was, causing its parachute and braking thrusters to be deployed prematurely. "The erroneous information generated an estimated altitude that was negative -- that is, below ground level," the ESA said in a statement.

Europe's Schiaparelli Mars lander crashed last month after a sensor failure caused it to cast away its parachute and turn off braking thrusters more than two miles (3.7 km) above the surface of the planet, as if it had already landed, a new report has revealed. The error stemmed from a momentary glitch in a device that measured how fast the spacecraft was spinning, the report by the European Space Agency said. The spacecraft activated its ground systems, even though it was still about 2.3 miles off the surface, the ESA said. The new image of Schiaparelli and its hardware components was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO, on 1 November. A number of the bright white spots around the dark region interpreted as the impact site are now confirmed as real objects – they are not likely to be imaging'noise' – and therefore are most likely fragments of Schiaparelli.

Mission controllers appear to have lost contact with a tiny craft that was Europe's big hope for Mars exploration. The paddling pool-sized "Schiaparelli" lander appeared to have made its way safely through the harsh atmosphere of Mars and onto its surface. But something appears to have gone wrong while it did so – and mission controllers are now unable to speak with it. The lander sent communications to its mothership, the Trace Gas Orbiter, on its way down. But the signal was lost before touchdown.

DARMSTADT, GERMANY/HESSEN GERMANY – Scientists were waiting for word Wednesday on whether the European Space Agency's experimental Schiaparelli probe had safely touched down on Mars. Signals received from the lander indicated that it entered the atmosphere of the red planet as planned and deployed its parachute. Schiaparelli is meant to test technology for a future European rover and avoid the fate of Europe's ill-starred Beagle 2 robot, which failed to function after landing on Mars 13 years ago. The probe is part of a larger mission called ExoMars that will help in the hunt for life on the planet. Schiaparelli was released from the mother ship, the Trace Gas Orbiter, on Sunday.

There is still no word on the fate of the European Space Agency's Mars lander, Schiaparelli. The robot was supposed to have touched down on the Red Planet at 1458 GMT (1558 BST), but radio contact was lost in the minute before this time. It was hoped that a satellite at Mars might have tracked the full descent, but it was unable to add any further insight. This will likely stoke fears that Schiaparelli has been lost. But the European Space Agency (Esa) will not be rushed to judgement.

The European Space Agency appear to have determined that its Schiaparelli probe has landed on Mars. Scientists had initially worried that the hugely important robot – which is intended as a demonstration of the technology used for landing, as well as to test theories about the potential of life on Mars – was lost, because it didn't send back an initial message to say that it was safe. But scientists said that they had received a signal back from Mars Express, a craft currently orbiting around the red planet about the probe. But they didn't initially confirm that meant that the lander had arrived on the planet safely. From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater.

Today on Mars, a 13-year-old American robot will look up from its crater to photograph the arrival of a new European companion. It's a solar system first: No robot on the the surface of another planet has ever been there to greet a new space traveler. The newest arrival, named Schiaparelli, will be doing its part to ensure that someday, humans will be the ones watching and waving as ships come and go. The European Space Agency's Schiaparelli lander is touching down today in Meridiani Planum, the same area where the Opportunity rover has been trundling along since 2003. Opportunity is about 10 miles outside of Schiaparelli's landing area, and will try to photograph the parachute as the European robot plummets Marsward.

A small robot probe could make history today by becoming the first European spacecraft to survive a landing on Mars - and it is likely to be a bumpy ride. Scientists will be crossing their fingers as Schiaparelli flies itself on autopilot through the Martian atmosphere, which is expected to welcome the probe with stormy weather. The probe will take images of Mars and conduct scientific measurements on the surface, but its main purpose is to test technology for a future European Mars rover. A small robot probe could make history today by becoming the first European spacecraft to survive a landing on Mars, and it might be a bumpy ride. Scientists will be crossing their fingers as Schiaparelli (artist's impression) flies itself on autopilot through the Martian atmosphere, which is expected to welcome the probe with stormy weather You can watch the livestream on MailOnline, at Esa's website, or via its livestream channel.

The European Space Agency (Esa) is getting ready to put a probe on Mars. Its Schiaparelli robot will attempt the risky descent to the surface in the coming hours, after a 500 million km journey from Earth. The touchdown is regarded as a dress rehearsal for a much more important venture in four years' time when Esa will bid to place a very expensive rover on the planet. This six-wheeled vehicle will drill beneath the surface to search for life. Getting the smaller Schiaparelli robot down ought to be the simpler affair.