Astronomy Picture of the Day 12-25-03

Explanation: At Table Mountain Observatory, near Wrightwood California, USA on October 26, wild fires were approaching from the east. But looking toward the west just after sunset, astronomer James Young could still enjoy this comforting view of a young crescent Moon and brilliant Venus through the the fading twilight. Setting over the horizon of Mt. Baden-Powell, the thin crescent was only about 37 hours "old", or 37 hours after its exact New Moon phase. After disappearing from morning twilight in August, Venus was becoming prominent in its role in western skies as the evening star. A similar lovely pairing of thin crescent Moon and stunning evening star can be seen toward the west in today's evening twilight. Happy Holidays and Best Wishes from APOD!

I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley a few miles from Mt. Baden-Powell. Did you know that this mountain was named for the founder of Scouting?

Here's the latest from the Mars Express/Beagle 2 mission. Where's Beagle? Information is in reverse-chronological order. Beagle, phone home!

BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Reload this page for updates on Europe's Mars Express spacecraft arrival at the Red Planet and the Beagle 2 landing.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2003
0835 GMT (3:35 a.m. EST)

While the Mars Express spacecraft swooped into orbit around the Red Planet today, triumphantly marking the first time that Europe has orbited another planet, fate of the highly-ambitious British Beagle 2 lander remains a mystery.

Mars Express fired its main engine for a half-hour around 0300 GMT to be "captured" into Martian orbit.

"This firing gave the probe a boost so that it could match the higher speed of the planet on its orbit around the Sun and be captured by its gravity field, like climbing in a spinning merry-go-round. This orbit insertion maneuver was a complete success," ESA announced.

At the same time of the Mars Express orbit insertion burn, Beagle 2 was plowing into the planet's atmosphere for a risky eight-minute descent to the surface at Isidis Planitia, just north of the equator. A protective heat-shield, parachutes and impact-cushioning airbags were to be employed during the entry and landing, but real-time information from the craft was unavailable.

A few hours after the touchdown, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter flew over the landing site. The American craft would receive a signal coming from Beagle and relay it back to controllers on Earth.

But that first shot at hearing from Beagle 2, confirming it is alive and well on Mars, turned up nothing but silence.

The next attempt to receive a Beagle 2 signal will occur around 2300 GMT (6 p.m. EST) tonight when the powerful Jodrell Bank telescope in England begins searching. Beagle 2's transmitter is expected to be in "carrier" mode, or a continuous unmodulated signal, and Jodrell should be able to hear that the lander has survived.

Subsequent opportunities with Odyssey and Jodrell will be available on Friday and Saturday.

Despite Beagle 2 failing to phone home, officials remain hopeful that contact will be established and the 180-day mission to search for past Martian life can commence.

"This first indication of no signal is not taken so negatively here in mission control. We are still very optimistic to receive a good signal from Beagle 2 in the coming days, and also to match the success of Mars Express, which is very successfully in orbit around Mars," flight director Mike McKay said.

"The arrival of Mars Express is a great success for Europe and for the international science community. Now, we are just waiting for a signal from Beagle 2 to make this Christmas the best we could hope for!" added David Southwood, head of ESA's Science Directorate.

"With Mars Express, we have a very powerful observatory in orbit around Mars and we look forward to receiving its first results. Its instruments will be able to probe the planet from its upper atmosphere down to a few kilometers below the surface, where we hope to find critical clues concerning the conditions for life, in particular traces of water.

"We expect this mission to give us a better understanding of our neighbor planet, of its past and its present, answering many questions for the science community and probably raising an even greater number of fascinating new ones.

"I hope we can see it as opening up a new era of European exploration."

0740 GMT (2:40 a.m. EST)

Flight director Mike McKay from the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, spoke a little while ago to provide an update on the no-signal situation with Beagle 2.

"The Beagle 2 certainly has landed. It was targeted with great accuracy last Friday by the Mars Express spacecraft that put it on a very, very precise course into the upper atmosphere. The landing site was supposed to be 200 km long and 50 km wide. After the work done by the navigation team here at the European Space Operations Center mission control, that landing site was reduced down to 31 km long and only five km wide, so extremely precise targeting. The Beagle 2 certainly has gone into the atmosphere.

"At the moment, we have just received some indication from (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) who are supposed to receive first signal as it flew over the Beagle 2 landing site with its spacecraft, Odyssey. They did not see any signal at that time. They have had nothing received onboard the spacecraft. But we knew that this first contact was always a very, very cautious first signal from the spacecraft.

"There are many reasons why the signal was not received by the spacecraft. You hear in the background the controllers from NASA Odyssey flight control center with our team here and also the Beagle 2 in the U.K. discussing the files that were transferred for commanding Odyssey, for the settings of their transmitter and also on the Beagle itself -- the transmission frequency is very much dependant on temperature. So it may be the temperature has caused the frequency to drift off slightly. The Beagle 2 may have also landed slightly at one of the edges of the landing site, and it may also be sitting on a tilt. So the overflight times may not be as expected.

"And this was in our plan to have backup options. Tonight we have a large radio astronomy dish in the United Kingdom, the famous Jodrell Bank antenna. It will be training its sights on Mars to see if there is any indication of a very, very faint UHF signal, which the same frequency as you have been receiving on televisions for many years, reaching out into 150 million km distance to see is there is something being transmitted from the surface from Beagle 2. We have (Friday) also a further opportunity early in the morning when Odyssey will overfly the Beagle landing site, and again on Saturday. And both of those nights we still have Jodrell Bank to back us up to go and search for the Beagle 2.

"So this first indication of no signal is not taken so negatively here in mission control. We are still very optimistic to receive a good signal from Beagle 2 in the coming days, and also to match the success of Mars Express, which is very successfully in orbit around Mars."

0720 GMT (2:20 a.m. EST)

Making another speech a short time ago, European Space Agency's David Southwood had this to say:

"It is really a very important night. Europe has arrived at Mars. Europe is turning its eyes toward Mars and I think that is something that every European should feel proud of.

"Last summer, in the terrible heat, many of us couldn't sleep at night. You looked out at 3 o'clock in the morning in the middle of August, you could see Mars hanging there. I think many Europeans knew we were on our way there.

"We are on our way there for scientific purposes, but I think also...there is more than just science. We are doing something of cultural significance. I think we in Europe have a duty, we are a developed area of the world, and we must look outwards as well as look inwards. And I think exploring space is very much looking outwards.

"We are doing it to bring information back to us, to ourselves.

"The purpose of Mars Express is just not to learn the science of our neighboring planet, but also to relate that to life on this planet. I remind you, this planet is the most habitable planet in our solar system. I hope we can keep it that way. By looking out into our solar system at some of the failures of habitable planets, and Mars appears to have been a failure as a planet for life, so far. That is going to teach us very important lessons back here on Earth.

"This is not the scientists just having fun. We are doing something very important. Europe should be doing as well as the Americans, as well as the Japanese, as well as the Russians, and I hope in the future, the Chinese, the Indians.

Southwood continued:

"It is a very important day for all of the European citizens out there who have contributed to this, through their taxation, and who should be sharing with us the joy we feel at being, finally, at Mars.

"There is more to come. We want to hear from Beagle. We want, in the next two years, to show you the fruit of the scientific instruments we sent to Mars. But we are there and so far, so good. I am very proud to say that."

0707 GMT (2:07 a.m. EST)

The European Space Agency has confirmed that its Mars Express has successfully entered orbit around the Red Planet!

0644 GMT (1:44 a.m. EST)

Here are the extended remarks by David Southwood, director of the European Space Agency's science program, as he announced that no signal had been received from the Beagle 2 lander following its descent to the surface of the Red Planet tonight.

"We were scheduled to pick up a signal using the American Mars Odyssey spacecraft a little earlier from Beagle 2. The overflight of the American spacecraft has taken place. The data have been returned to the Earth and analyzed. At the moment, I'm sorry to say that we don't have a signal, yet, from the Beagle lander.

"This is not the end of the story -- it is very important to remember that. This was our first opportunity to pick up a signal. The antenna on Beagle may be pointed in the wrong direction. There may be some delay. However, getting signals back from Mars is not straightforward.

"Our next opportunity will be just before midnight Central European Time (2300 GMT; 6 p.m. EST) when we will use the large, 76-meter radio telescope, Jodrell Bank, in northern England to listen for signals from Beagle.

"Should that not give us signals, don't worry. We will continue listening tomorrow. There will be a further overflight by Mars Odyssey, the American spacecraft, and we will consider several other opportunities until the end of the year for us to pick up the signal.

"We are sure that Beagle is down on the surface. We just need to hear from Beagle that is it there."

0634 GMT (1:34 a.m. EST)

The first shot at hearing from the Beagle 2 lander, confirming it is alive and well on Mars, has turned up nothing but silence.

"I'm sorry to say that we don't have a signal, yet, from the Beagle lander," Professor David Southwood, director of the European Space Agency's science program, just announced.

The NASA Mars Odyssey has made its overflight of the Beagle 2's landing site. However, it did not hear a signal from the lander below.

0530 GMT (12:30 a.m. EST)

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft circling around the Red Planet should have just passed over the Beagle 2 landing site. If Beagle is operating per the plan, it should have transmitted a signal that Odyssey would receive and then pass to Earth about an hour from now.

But even if the lander has survived its dramatic journey to the surface, officials say there is no guarantee that communications will occur during this first attempt with Odyssey. They note that Beagle may not have fully opened up by the time the orbiter appears over the Martian horizon.

Beagle is supposed to shut down for the Martian night in a little while. So if Odyssey does not hear Beagle now, the lander will be asleep when the orbiter again flies overhead later today. The next opportunity for mission controllers to learn the fate of the lander will come late Thursday when the Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the U.K. listens from Beagle's signal at around 2240 GMT.

Sunset on Mars is 0715 GMT; sunrise is 2002 GMT.

0431 GMT (11:31 p.m. EST Wed.)

Preliminary data through the S-band system of Mars Express indicates that the craft has entered orbit around the Red Planet!

However, officials will have to wait a bit longer to confirm details about the orbit insertation and declare success. The full X-band telemetry data will be regained later tonight to determine the burn duration, spacecraft health and the exact orbit achieved.

But for now, mission controllers are shaking hands and breathing easier based on this initial information.

0318 GMT (10:18 p.m. EST Wed.)

After the half-hour Mars Orbit Insertion burn, the Mars Express spacecraft should be captured into orbit around the Red Planet -- a highly-elliptical egg-shaped orbit. It will be a couple of hours before flight controllers gain enough data from the spacecraft to confirm a successful arrival in Martian orbit.

We will continue to update this page throughout the night as information becomes available on the fate of Beagle 2 and the Mars Express spacecraft.

0300 GMT (10:00 p.m. EST Wed.)

Mars Express should be continuing its engine firing to enter orbit around the planet for its scientific studies.

0254 GMT (9:54 p.m. EST Wed.)

Beagle 2 should be sitting at Isidis Planitia!

The gas bags, no longer needed, will separate from the lander. And in a few minutes, the craft will transition to its lander software program, and deploy the power-generating solar arrays and scientific equipment.

The first opportunity for Beagle 2 to transmit signals will occur around 0530 GMT when NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, currently orbiting the planet, soars over the Beagle landing site. The results of Odyssey's attempt to hear the lander will be known sometime between 0630 and 0700 GMT.

For now, a tense wait to determine the ultimate fate of Beagle 2 continues.

0252 GMT (9:52 p.m. EST Wed.)

Shrouded inside large gas-filled bags, the British Beagle 2 lander should be bouncing on the surface of the Red Planet. The speed at the first impact is expected to be about 58 kph (36 mph). Mission designers expect the craft to make multiple bounces over the course of a few minutes before coming to rest.

0251:45 GMT (9:51:45 p.m. EST Wed.)

If all is going according to plan, the three gas bags designed to cushion Beagle's landing should be inflated. A gas-generator fills the bags in just two seconds. It is estimated that the craft is traveling at a speed of 56 kph (36 mph) in vertical velocity and 129 kph (8 mph) in lateral velocity.

0251 GMT (9:51 p.m. EST Wed.)

Frangibolts attaching the back cover ought to be firing now, and the main parachute on Beagle 2 unfurling to further slowing the craft's descent to the surface. Its current speed should be roughly 335 kph (210 mph).

Shortly, the radar altimeter will be switched on. Once the spacecraft's heat shield is jettisoned, the altimeter will be able to detect the surface every tenth-of-a-second.

0250 GMT (9:50 p.m. EST Wed.)

Beagle is expected to have completed the fiery part of entry into Mars' thin atmosphere by this time. In the next few seconds, the pilot parachute should be deployed. The craft's speed should be around 1,174 kph (720 mph).

Accelerometer devices should have been detecting the decelerating effect as the craft plunged into the atmosphere over the past few minutes. Now that the atmosphere's resistance no longer is slowing the craft, the spacecraft will command the parachute deployment device to deploy the pilot chute.

0247:48 GMT (9:47:48 p.m. EST Wed.)

At this very moment, the Beagle 2 lander should be hitting the upper fringes of the Martian atmosphere at a speed of 20,000 kph (12,500 mph). Over the next minute, the protective heat shield should experience a maximum temperature of 1,700 degrees C, and the deceleration will impart 13.3 g's on the craft.

Meanwhile, the Mars Express spacecraft is supposed to be firing its main engine for this mission-critical maneuver to achieve orbit around the Red Planet.

However, live real-time confirmation all of these events is not available from Beagle or Mars Express.

0230 GMT (9:30 p.m. EST Wed.)

The Mars Express engine burn to begin entering orbit around the planet is 17 minutes away; Beagle 2 should be sitting on the Martian surface in 24 minutes, if all goes according to plan tonight.

0150 GMT (8:50 p.m. EST Wed.)

According to the European Space Agency, the upcoming Mars Express engine firing will be reduced the spacecraft's speed from about 11 kilometers per second to 9 kilometers per second. At that speed, the planet's gravitational field will be enough to 'capture' the spacecraft in Martian orbit.

Meanwhile, the Beagle 2 lander remains en route to its fiery plunge into the Martian atmosphere at 20,000 kilometers per hour. It is expected to arrive on the planet's surface around 0254 GMT.

0135 GMT (8:35 p.m. EST Wed.)

Officials have given the approval for the insertion burn to steer Mars Express into orbit around the Red Planet. The half-hour engine firing is expected to begin around 0247 GMT.

The Mars Express will now perform a "slew" maneuver so that its main engine is pointed in proper direction for the upcoming orbit insertion burn. But as the spacecraft is maneuvered to this new position, its main antenna will no longer be directed toward Earth. That will temporarily end the main stream of telemetry data from the craft.

2315 GMT (6:15 p.m. EST)

The European Space Agency reports that the Mars Express mission "is proceeding as planned."

The craft's velocity data indicates that the pull of Martian gravity is continually increasing.

"This gravitational influence is as predicted, and serves as an independent confirmation that the spacecraft is on its planned course," officials said.

2254 GMT (5:54 p.m. EST)

The Beagle 2 lander is now four hours away from its moment with destiny -- arrival on the surface of Mars. Packaged inside its descent module, the tiny craft will hit the Martian atmosphere at 20,000 kph (12,500 mph), about eight minutes before its landing.

It was deployed from the Mars Express last Friday, traveling on the proper course to reach a region of Mars called Isidis Planitia. The craft has no means of propulsion and is simply following a ballistic trajectory to Mars.

Beagle 2 has been making its solo journey over the past few days without any power or way of charging its batteries, and controllers have no way to communicate with the lander or check its health.

The only item operating aboard the craft is a timer chip that will wake up the electrical systems about two-and-a-half hours before the atmospheric descent tonight. That will trigger a pre-programmed entry and landing sequence. Beagle 2 will rely upon its battery until the power-generating solar arrays are fully deployed on the Martian surface.

1630 GMT (11:30 a.m. EST)

The Mars Express spacecraft is in its final configuration for Mars Orbit Insertion tonight. No more commands are being sent to the craft until after its capture by Mars, the European Space Agency says.

Meanwhile, the Beagle 2 team has revised its calculations of the landing zone. The ellipse-shaped zone is now 70 kilometers (43 miles) long by 11 kilometers (7 miles) across.

As of 1100 GMT today, Mars Express was 169,000 kilometers from Mars and 156,167,000 kilometers from Earth.

Both the Mars Express and the Beagle 2 lander have a velocity relative to Mars of 2.8 kilometers per second, increasing under the influence of Martian gravity.

The two spacecraft were 2,300 kilometres apart, separating at a rate of 6.5 meters per second.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2003

Santa Claus will be making a special delivery almost 100 million miles away from Earth this Christmas as a pair of European space probes make their approach to Mars to begin their investigations searching for water and evidence of life on the Red Planet.

The Beagle 2 lander and Mars Express orbiter will both be encountering Mars early Christmas Day GMT, or late on December 24 in the U.S. The two launched on June 2 aboard a Soyuz rocket and have spent almost 7 months en route to the planet via an arcing trajectory 250 million miles in length.

The two separated last Friday and have since been preparing for their dates with destiny, when early on Christmas Beagle 2 will attempt to become the fifth spacecraft to successfully make a landing on Mars. Meanwhile, Mars Express will be trying to become the first European probe to orbit another planet.

Touching down at 0254 GMT (9:54 p.m. EST the 24th) will be the British-developed Beagle 2 lander. After an 8-minute passage through the Martian atmosphere and having encountered scalding temperatures, the tiny space probe with a landing mass of just 73 pounds will deploy its main parachute and inflate airbags to cushion its first contact with the surface.

Initiation of the entry process will begin at roughly midnight GMT, when Beagle's computer will be brought online to support landing activities. The first major encounter with traces of the upper Martian atmosphere is expected shortly before 0248 GMT (9:48 p.m. EST), followed in the ensuing minute by a peak temperature of 1700 degrees C. At about 0250 GMT (9:50 p.m. EST), the pilot stabilizing parachute will be deployed, while the main chute will be let loose about a minute later. At an altitude of roughly 800 feet, the airbags will be rapidly filled. Fifteen seconds later, landing on Mars' Isidis Plantia basin should occur. It is expected to take about two minutes for the lander to bounce and finally roll to a stop from its impact velocity of 36 miles per hour.

The craft will switch to lander software within about 10 minutes of touchdown, which will then initiate sequences to deflate the airbags and to open the probe's clamshell exterior.

The first opportunity to receive a signal from Beagle 2 on the surface is at approximately 0530 GMT (12:30 a.m. EST), when NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter passes overhead. If a signal is received, it can then be relayed back to ground controllers on Earth within an hour or two. The next possible chance to get data from Beagle will be late on Christmas night at about 2245 GMT (5:45 p.m. EST), when the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the United Kingdom will come into view.

As activities involving Beagle 2 hit their climax, a separate European Space Agency team of controllers will be overseeing the insertion of Mars Express into Martian orbit. A 31-minute long engine burn starting at 0247 GMT (9:47 p.m. EST), according to ESA, will slow the craft and guide it into orbit around Mars to begin its mission lasting about two years.

Its initial orbit is predicted to have a high point of about 7,000 miles, a low point of approximately 160 miles, and inclination of 86 degrees. The craft will gradually slide into a slightly less elliptical orbit throughout its mission. Information on the outcome of this critical insertion burn is expected within hours after it takes place.

Come back to this page for live play-by-play updates as we learn of the results from this historic Christmas gift for science.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2003
1120 GMT (6:20 a.m. EST)

With the Christmas Day arrival at the Red Planet fast approaching, the tiny British Beagle 2 lander was successfully cast free from the Mars Express space probe today. Beagle 2 is bound for surface to conduct a host of experiments including some to look for evidence of past life. Read our full story.

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