Mars Express Fails Again to Contact Beagle 2
Posted on: Wednesday, 7 January 2004, 06:00 CST
DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) -- A European spacecraft orbiting Mars failed to pick up a signal from the Beagle 2 probe Wednesday, leaving a saddened mission control without word from the lander since it was spun off toward the Red Planet last month.
Flying 195 miles above the site where the Beagle 2 was to have landed, the Mars Express orbiter reported no transmissions from the probe, which was programmed to emit a steady beeping.
The window to contact Beagle 2 lasts until Saturday, after which the orbiter will move into a less-advantageous position.
European scientists have said that Beagle 2's mother ship provides the best chance of getting in touch with the 143-pound probe, after several failed attempts by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter as well as British and U.S. radio telescopes.
"Today, in conditions we thought were very good for getting direct communication between Mars Express and Beagle 2, we did not get any contact," said David Southwood, the European Space Agency's director of science.
"This is not the end of the story, but I have to say this is a setback. It makes me feel very sad," Southwood said.
As the Europeans hoped to hear from their still-silent probe, their NASA colleagues were celebrating the triumph of the Spirit rover, which landed over the weekend on Mars and sent back dazzling photographs of the rocky, rust-colored landscape.
Both the U.S. and the European missions hope to search Mars for possible signs of life.
Beagle 2 is equipped with a mechanical arm to sample Martian soil and rocks, and the Mars Express orbiter has a powerful radar to probe below the planet's surface for signs of water or ice that may once have sustained living organisms.
About Mars Express
Mars Express, so called because of the rapid and streamlined development time, represents ESA's first visit to another planet in the Solar System.
Borrowing technology from the failed Mars 96 mission and from the upcoming ESA's Rosetta mission, Mars Express will help answer fundamental questions about the geology, atmosphere, surface environment, history of water and potential for life on Mars.
About Beagle 2
Mars Express Beagle 2 lander will have to survive temperatures down to as low as -100oC. It carries a variety of scientific experiments powered by solar cells and a rechargeable battery.
Like any self-respecting tourist visiting a new destination for the first time, Beagle 2 will take photographs. Panoramic and wide-field cameras will be used for pictures of the landing site to guide further exploration as the mission progresses.
A microscope will look closely at the rocks and soil with a high degree of magnification. Fragments of rocks within reach of Beagle 2's small robotic arm will be analysed for the existence of organic matter, water and aqueously-deposited minerals.
The busy lander will also deploy a mole capable of crawling short distances across the surface at one cm every six seconds (the relative equivalent of six metres an hour) and burrowing beneath large boulders to collect soil samples for a gas analysis system. The primary aim of these experiments will be to see if any evidence of past life processes near the landing site remains.
-----
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 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Related Articles
- NASA Sets Target Date For Ares I-X Test Launch
- NASA Sets Target Date For Ares I-X Rocket's Test Launch
- Mars Phoenix Mission Faces Survival Challenges
- NASA Updates Target Launch Date for Shuttle Discovery
- Aerojet Propulsion Launches NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Mission
- NASA Probe Fires Engine to Enter Mars Orbit
- Beagle 2 Scientist in Nasa Bid
- Far more NASA probes
- Beagle 2 Mission Criticized by Europeans
- NASA Probe Changes Views about Red Planet
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds