Europe’s Mars Express Launched Into Orbit

Europe’s Mars Express went into orbit around the Red Planet early Thursday, flight officials said, as controllers awaited word on whether the craft’s companion, a surface probe dubbed Beagle 2, had landed safely on the Red Planet.

Flight director Michael McKay said controllers received a signal from a small antenna aboard the Mars Express as it emerged from behind Mars on schedule at 5:11 a.m. on Christmas Day. He cautioned that the signal did not reveal if the spacecraft was working.

Mars Express reappeared following a maneuver in which it fired its engine to slow it enough for Mars’ gravity to pull it into orbit. The craft will relay data from the Beagle 2 when – and if – it starts transmitting from the planet’s surface.

The signal “was the first good indication that the burn went well,” McKay said.

Confirmation that the maneuver was successful was expected in another three hours as controllers turned the main antenna on Mars Express, which was reversed for the orbit maneuver, to face Earth.