Europe Has Last Chance to Find Lost Mars Probe
Posted on: Tuesday, 6 January 2004, 06:00 CST
PARIS (AFP) -- With NASA scientists basking in the success of the Mars probe Spirit, their European counterparts this week are to make a last-ditch bid to make contact with Beagle 2, amid fears the robot lander is lost forever.
The fortunes of the two probes could not be more different -- while Spirit started sending back colour images of Mars only two days after it landed, no signal from Beagle 2 has been heard since its planned touchdown on Christmas Day.
Scientists fear the craft may have been destroyed, failed to open properly or else landed inside a crater, making communication impossible.
The European Space Agency (ESA) will make a final attempt to contact the tiny probe on Wednesday when its mother ship -- Mars Express - should be at a height of 375 kilometres (233 miles) above the lost probe.
ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina said that this would be one of the last chances to communicate with the robot, which was to test rock, soil and air samples for signs of past or present life on Mars during its 180-day mission.
"Today we share the euphoria of the Americans, even if we are a bit envious as we are only seeing the images of Mars through the eyes of Nasa," he admitted.
All attempts to make contact have ended in disappointment, despite using help including the massive British Jodrell Bank telescope and the US satellite Mars Odyssey, which has been orbiting Mars since October 2001.
ESA's hopes are now pinned on Mars Express, which has communication systems compatible with those of Beagle 2 and was tested with success.
The British scientists behind the Beagle 2 mission, including Colin Pillinger of the Open University in Milton Keynes, are also refusing to give up hope and insist that the lander is not yet out of commission.
"This is the best chance we have," he said of Wednesday's attempt. "If our best chance doesn't work we really have to start believing that time is running out."
Bonacina admitted that if operators are unable to make touch this week, Beagle 2 will have to be classed as lost and the mission will concentrate on scientific research with the seven instruments on the Mars Express orbiter.
Overshadowed by the widely publicised travails of Beagle 2, Mars Express has enjoyed almost hitch-free progress since is launch from the Baikonur consmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 2.
Cameras and radar equipment for taking images of Mars are packed onto the satellite, meaning the Europeans should be able to salvage some pride even if Beagle 2 is definitively lost.
Although the spacecraft is one of the most spectacular parts of the Mars Express mission, it represents only about 10 percent of the overall project's total scientific work, according to ESA scientists.
Michael McKay, director of Mars Express' flight operations, said that between now and end of January testing of the instruments on the orbiter would take place, which he described as having an "unmatched precision".
Mars Express' most notable instrument is its high resolution stereo camera, which will take photographs with the aim of compiling a complete 3-D map of Mars.
It also has the radar MARSIS for looking for signs of water or ice under the Martian surface, which is capable of taking readings up to four kilometres deep.
Several spectrometers will a try to work out the mysteries of the Martian atmosphere and mineralogy, as well as the role that the solar wind plays over temperature variations on Mars.
-----
Follow every step of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission with RedNova. Click here...
-----
On the Net:
Mars Exploration Rover Mission
More science, space, and technology from RedNova
Copyright © 2003 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
Related Articles
- Shared Goals, High Costs Nudge NASA, ESA Closer
- ATK Begins Building Advanced Support Structure for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
- Mars Express Mission Control Ready For Phoenix Landing
- NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center Deploys FutureFLEX Air-Blown Fiber for Constellation Program's Next Generation Spacecraft Launches
- Mars Express Mission Extended
- NASA Grounds Future Space Shuttle Fights
- NASA to Launch Space Shuttle Launch on May 15
- EMS Technologies Awarded $5 Million Contract to Build Key Component of NASA's Next Giant Space Telescope
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status
- Europe's Bid to Contact Mars Beagle 2 Probe Fails
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds