Beagle 2 lander

[Brian G Turner]

Well, today is Christmas day, and the Beagle 2 lander should have landed on Mars just before 3am GMT.

NASA's Mars Odyssey flew over the landing site - but was unable to pick up a signal from the lander.

Beagle 2 needs to unwrap itself and re-acharge it's batteries with solar panels on the first day, or else it's a dead project. So if something really has gone wrong, it could be fatal for the project.

The next tracking attempt is at 10pm GMT, when the Jodrell Bank telescope will attempt to pick up a signal.

Here's rooting for the little British space project.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3344693.stm

excerpt:

Scientists have failed to pick up an expected signal from British-built spacecraft Beagle 2 telling them it has landed safely on Mars.

The £35m probe should have landed at 0254 GMT on Christmas Day after a 400 million kilometre, six-month flight.

Nasa's Mars Odyssey orbiter has since flown over its landing site but failed to detect the expected call sign.

The giant Jodrell Bank telescope, in Cheshire, UK, will come on line at about 2200 GMT to listen for signals.

Scientists are confident that sweep will pick up a signal from Beagle 2 - if it has made it to the planet surface in one piece and is functioning as expected.

If that option fails, the Nasa spacecraft will have a daily chance to pick up the signal until 3 January, when Europe's Mars Express craft - the mother ship now orbiting the planet - begins its mission.

However, if nothing has been received by the end of 26 December, hopes for Beagle 2 will start to fade.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Well, it's not looking good, now - even Jodrell Bank couldn't locate it. Beagle 2 is ominously quiet:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994518

excerpt:

Hopes are fading that the British Beagle 2 probe landed safely on Mars on Christmas morning, as the lander has missed its second opportunity to make contact.

Mission controllers were first disappointed when NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft failed to hear any signals from Beagle 2 shortly after its scheduled touchdown on the Martian surface.

Then the 76-metre Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, UK, tried to detect signals from Beagle 2 between 2230 and midnight on Christmas night - but heard nothing.

There are several possible reasons. The communications antenna on Beagle 2 might be pointing in the wrong direction, for example.

But it looks increasingly likely that some part of the technology designed to give the lander a smooth descent and gentle landing has failed. The spacecraft may have broken apart after a crash landing or while soaring down through the Martian atmosphere.

 

[littlemissattitude]

The LGMs (Little Green Men) ate it!

Seriously, it does seem quite curious that there is so much problem with the Mars probes. Several have been lost. It can't be simple overreach of avaliable technology, as this problem hasn't seemed to come up with probes to further-off places like Jupiter and its moons. So, who knows what the problem with Mars is - if it is a problem with Mars at all.

Actually, though, back in 1976 when the first lander to Mars was about to send back pictures, my Dad thought it would be quite a hoot if the first picture broadcast back was a close-up of a little Martian sticking his thumbs in his ears and sticking his tongue out at the camera. So, you see, where I got my sense of humor.

I do hope that contact is made; if it isn't I hope that doesn't stop them from sending out more probes. Mars is an interesting place and we really need to study it. Might learn something about our own planet.

 

[Foxbat]

I would imagine the problem with probes to Mars is that they have to enter an atmosphere - and this can cause huge problems like burnup etc. The scientists knew before they sent it that there was only a 50% chance of survival.
On a more hopeful note, Beagle 2 is capable of looking after itself for 20 days so all is not yet lost. It's a case of fingers crossed.

 

[Foxbat]

Here's a link for anybody that's interested

http://www.beagle2.com/index.htm

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'm actually quite hopeful of them receiving a signal on January 4th, when the Mars Express will be able to try and locate it itself. Somehow the antenna pointing in the wrong direction is something I can buy into quite easily. Fingers crossed.

 

[Foxbat]

Just to digress slightly - I was watching the BBC news on sunday morning and they ran an article on Starchaser (the UK company out to try and win the $10m prize for putting a person 100km up twice in a fortnight). Just after this they covered a piece on the rumour that G. W. Bush was preparing a speech for sometime in January. This speech, apparently, may well be of the same significance as the Kennedy speech in the early sixties - where he pledged to put a man on the moon. There seems to be speculation on whether it will be a commitment to Mars or a return to the Moon. Personally, I believe it more likely to be a return to the Moon rather than Mars (we need to regain all that lost experience before we do anything else).

Has anybody else heard any of this? Perhaps this is all just tittle tattle but I'd love to hear some more on this if anybody has any more info

 

[Allyn]

Yeah, i heard about his plans for wanting to put another man on the moon already.

As for Beagle 2, it really depends on which source you listen to. Some say 50% fail, others say 66% fail, so it's really somewhere in that area. But as littlemissattitude pointed out they do seem to have problems with mars for some reason. Maybe there's a gaint magnet under the surface that scrambles all the circuts of crafts

In all seriousness, i hope they do find it. If worse comes to worse it wasn't a completely failed mission, they still have the Mars Express circling over mars.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I can also buy into the antenna being pointed in the wrong direction. That sort of thing happens from time to time (just ask anyone who has a satellite dish TV system in an area where the wind blows very much).

And, yes, I have heard the rumors of a big space-committment speech coming up in January. Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is more than rumors. I've mentioned before on this site how strongly I feel about the idea that humans need to pursue a presence in space. Honestly, though, I believe that if the speech does take place, it will be a committment to go to Mars and that any presence on the Moon will be in support of that. Don't know why, just a gut feeling. That, and the fact that a Mars mission would probably be twenty years or so in the future, and the longer development time would be easier to stretch out in the budget even though it would be a more expensive program overall.

 

[Foxbat]

I've mentioned before on this site how strongly I feel about the idea that humans need to pursue a presence in space.

My sentiments also. I agree that the moon would only be in support of a larger goal ie. Mars - but that is exactly why I believe it will be the Moon first. I will be jumping with joy if either version is true because extending ourselves and our frontiers is what we Humans do best.

As for Beagle 2 there now seems to be some speculation of it being stuck in a crater. Hopefully they'll get a response when Mars Express is in the right position to overcome the angle problem if this is true.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Considering the Chinese entry into space, and NASA still crippled by the grounding of the space shuttles, it is pretty inevitable that the USA will try to return to a full and practical dominance of space. Effectively, we could be talking about the beginnings of a new space race - and, possibly, a new arms race to accompany it.

 

[Foxbat]

Maybe I'm just a hopeless optimist but I don't think we will see another space/arms race. I think it will be a new level of cooperation between countries.

Here's an example of what I mean: Consider Starchaser - what it is trying to do effectively, is to win a prize for producing the first commercial re-usable re-entry vehicle. What does this mean? It means, firstly, more opportunity for some (no doubt those with big bucks) but it also means something much more. If this company or any are succesfull (on a shoestring budget!) it also provides another means of resupplying the International Space Station. And what does this mean to NASA? Freedom of resources. It allows them to allocate their resources to other projects ie. space exploration. I believe they only way forward is collaboration. America should not have to foot the bill alone.
There you have it - my Brave New World

 

[Brian G Turner]

Well, the Chinese are certainly not alone - Europe and Japan are both heavily involved in various projects with the Chinese - not least, the Gallileo Global Positioning Network, set to supercede the US GPS system in a way that does not please the Pentagon.

 

[mosaix]

They've found it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886

The missing Mars robot Beagle2 has been found on the surface of the Red Planet, apparently intact. High-resolution images taken from orbit have identified its landing location, and it looks to be in one piece. The UK-led probe tried to make a soft touchdown on the dusty world on Christmas Day, 2003, using parachutes and airbags - but no radio contact was ever made with the probe. Many scientists assumed it had been destroyed in a high-velocity impact. The new pictures, acquired by Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, give the lie to that notion, and hint at what really happened to the European mission. Beagle's design incorporated a series of deployable "petals", on which were mounted its solar panels. From the images, it seems that this system did not unfurl fully.

It's a pity Colin Pillinger died before they found it.

 

[Brian G Turner]

They've now taken high-resolution images of the site - and Beagle 2 appears to have opened 3 of its 4 solar panels, suggesting that the landing went mostly fine. Additionally, the probe may have worked for some time in surface operations mode, collecting data, but unable to send it:

Beagle 2 'was so close to Mars success' - BBC News