Posted on 01/21/2004 10:58:33 AM PST by ambrose
Beagle Team Postpones Search
By John von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News
Scientists have postponed a search due to have started tomorrow for the lost Beagle 2 probe.
Instead they will try to communicate with the craft over the coming weekend.
Controllers stopped trying to raise the British Mars lander on January 12.
By maintaining radio silence, it was hoped Beagle 2 would be forced into an emergency communication mode that ensured its transmitter was kept on for most of the Martian day.
This would give its mother ship, the Mars Express orbiter, the best chance of making contact.
The original radio silence period ended today, just before a fly-past by Mars Express. However, mission scientists have decided not to hail the lander immediately.
A statement from the Beagle 2 team said: "We are erring on the side of caution as we cannot confidently predict the precise ending of the 10-day slot. This is because the absolute accuracy of the timer on Beagle 2 could have been affected by the temperature on Mars, making the clock run slightly faster or slower than predicted."
Hailing attempts will now be made when Mars Express flies over the landing site on Saturday and Sunday night.
The statement continued: "These two flights cover the widest possible area where Beagle 2 should be, giving us the best chance of calling the lander and getting a response from the continuous transmission."
In addition, there were several other opportunities to listen for Beagle 2 without calling it.
It could take hours to sift the data stream from Mars Express for a Beagle 2 signal. Scientists will announce whether the new search has succeeded or failed on Monday afternoon.
Beagle 2 should have landed on Mars on Christmas Day, but nothing has been heard from it since.
The tiny probe was designed to search for signs of past or present life on Mars.
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