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Controllers Watch for Mars Probe Landing

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 06:00 CST

DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) - Mission controllers began a tense watch early Thursday, monitoring whether Europe's first Mars lander had touched down safely as the time for its arrival passed.

The Beagle 2 lander was scheduled to enter the Martian atmosphere at 3:45 a.m. (9:45 p.m. Wednesday EST) - but no confirmation of the landing was expected for about four hours, until NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft swings overhead and has a chance to capture its signal.

Officials also were waiting to determine whether the Mars Express mother ship - which turned Beagle loose six days ago - had fired its main engine to enter Martian orbit in another crucial maneuver, scheduled at almost the same time.

"We have to trust the spacecraft - that's all we can do now," Mars Express project manager Rudolf Schmidt told reporters at mission control.

For good luck, Schmidt wore a white felt skullcap he bought in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Russia's space center. Another lucky charm - a beagle doll wearing sunglasses - sat atop one of the control consoles.

The 143-pound lander, shaped like an oversized wok, won't communicate until it can open its solar panels and charge its batteries using the sun's energy.

Mission controllers sent the last commands to Mars Express Wednesday morning, telling it to heat its fuel tanks and switch off nonessential equipment so it won't interfere with the maneuver.

"We have loaded the sequence and then we have switched off as many systems as possible - everything that is not absolutely needed," said mission control spokeswoman Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin. "Everything is going fine."

The first chance to hear from Beagle 2 - named for the ship that carried naturalist Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery in the 1830s - comes when the U.S. spacecraft has a chance to pick up and relay a signal.

If that doesn't work, the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Britain will try to pick up Beagle's signal later Christmas Day.

Mars Express' entry to orbit is critical for the mission, since the mother craft will relay Beagle's scientific data back to earth.

It won't be in position to make contact with Beagle until Jan. 3 because its initial orbit is too high and will have to be corrected.

Beagle is designed to use a robotic arm to sample surface rock and soil for signs of past or present life.

Meanwhile, Mars Express will orbit overheard for at least a Martian year, or 687 Earth days, probing as deep as 2.5 miles below the surface with a powerful radar to look for underground water. It will also map the surface with a high-resolution stereo camera.

Scientists believe that billions of year ago Mars may have had enough liquid surface water to support life, and that life might have survived in cavities underground. The planet's surface has features that some think could be dry riverbeds and ancient coastlines.

But getting there is risky. Of 34 unmanned American, Soviet and Russian missions to Mars since 1960, two-thirds have ended in failure.

The United States successfully landed two Viking craft in 1976 and Mars Pathfinder in 1997, but two years later lost the Mars Polar Lander during descent. Japan this month abandoned a Mars mission after failing to position the Nozomi probe on planetary orbit.

NASA's Spirit, one of two identical robot explorers, is expected to land Jan. 3. Its sibling, Opportunity, is scheduled to settle on the opposite side of the planet Jan. 24.

European controllers won't give up if no signal from Beagle 2 is detected Thursday. For one thing, NASA's Odyssey craft should have more than one chance in the following days to make contact.

"It doesn't have to mean anything," mission control spokesman Bernhard von Weyhe said. "It can mean it needs more time to be unfolded, or it's at a funny angle."

If all goes well, Beagle is expected to transmit its first pictures from Mars as early as Dec. 29-Dec. 31. The first radar pictures from Mars Express are expected in the spring.

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On the Net:

Mars Express: www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars-Express/index.html

European Space Agency: www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars-Express/SEMTERWLDMD-0.html

Beagle 2: www.beagle2.com

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