Mars Express Positioned for Beagle 2 Deployment

space.com ^ | 16 December 2003 | Peter de Selding

[Lokibob]

 

 

	Mars Express Positioned for Beagle 2 Deployment By Peter de Selding Space News Staff Writer posted: 10:20 am ET 16 December 2003

 

PARIS-- Ground controllers of Europe's Mars Express satellite on Dec. 16 successfully completed a precision-pointing maneuver to prepare the satellite for a planned Dec. 19 ejection of its small Beagle-2 lander, the mission's flight director said.

Michael McKay, flight operations director at the European Space Agency's Esoc space operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, said Mars Express was rotated and its engines briefly fired to increase the satellite's speed as it approaches Mars as part of the maneuver.

Images

A breakdown of how Mars Express fits together. The Beagle 2 can be seen sitting on the lid of the craft and the main communications antenna is visible in the lower left. The orbiter carries seven instruments including MARSIS, a low-frequency radar designed to probe the subsurface of Mars for water. Click to enlarge.

An artist's conception of Mars Express at the red planet. The mission is among the fastest and cheapest by the European Space Agency (ESA). It will search for water and evidence of life on Mars. Click to enlarge.

An illustration of Beagle 2 with its Position Adjustable Workbench (PAW) extended after landing. The lander will search for evidence of life on Mars as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express. Click to enlarge.

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Related Links

	Mars Express Home

	Beagle 2 home page

"This is about the most accurate pointing of a satellite we have ever had to do," McKay said in a telephone interview. "It was successfully completed." Signals to and from Mars Express are delivered via a new 35-meter tracking antenna that the European Space Agency recently installed in New Norcia, Australia, near Perth.

Mission managers have narrowed the likely Beagle-2 landing point to an area measuring almost 125 miles (200 kilometers) in width and 31 miles (50 kilometers) in length.

After the Dec. 19 ejection of Beagle-2, Mars Express will continue to follow the lander for five days before performing a breaking maneuver that will put it into a 400-kilometer orbit around Mars. The satellite is equipped with radar and optical cameras to study Mars' atmosphere and surface. Beagle-2 is scheduled to land on Mars on Dec. 25 to begin a six-month search for signs of past or present life on Mars.

[Lokibob]

Landing in 7 days, 8 hours and a few mins (see posting time).

[Stentor]

One hopes they computed using metrics not English measurement.

[RightWhale]

38% of all Mars missions have had some success, even if only a single bit of data before the transmitter went dead. The rest were total, black, empty failures, not even one bit of Mars data.

[ASA Vet]

Barsoom Self Defense Forces (BSDF) will shoot it down just as they have numerous other invaders spacecraft.

[Lokibob]

I'd bet they never make that mistake again. LOL

[Conspiracy Guy]

No, no, not a beagle on Mars!!

[Moosilauke]

...Mars Express will continue to follow the lander for five days before performing a breaking maneuver...

Sounds like they're anticipating the worst!

[Lokibob]

From the beagle 2 web page:

 

 

 

 

:: landing timeline

	Leaving the orbiter
	Descent to the planet
	The landing site
	Landing timeline

Shown below is the expected timeline of the main mission events:

16th Dec 2003

All day

Fine targeting of Mars Express to point at the landing site

19th Dec

06:51 GMT

Decision to release Beagle 2

19th Dec

08:11 GMT

Eject command sent to Mars Express

19th Dec

10:15 GMT

First results of release available

20th Dec

All day

Retargeting of Mars Express on an orbital insertion course

23rd Dec

T.B.D.

Update on Mars Express orbital insertion sequence

24th Dec

Night

Final decision to steer Mars Express into a Martian orbit

25th Dec

02:54 GMT

Beagle 2 lands on Mars

25th Dec

03:00 GMT

Mars Express orbital insertion

25th Dec

05:15 GMT

Mars Odyssey orbiter flies over Beagle 2 - first possible signal retrieval from the lander

25th Dec

07:00 GMT

First evaluation of Mars Express orbital insertion

25th Dec

07:15 GMT

Sunset on Mars (18:35 local solar time)

25th Dec

20:02 GMT

Sunrise on Mars (07:02 local solar time)

25th Dec

22:45 GMT

Possible direct capture of Beagle 2 signals at Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK)

26th Dec

07:55 GMT

Sunset on Mars (18:36 local solar time)

[ASA Vet]

Here's the mission:

Search for criteria relating to past life on Mars including:
--presence of water
--existence of carbonate minerals
--occurrence of organic residues
--complexity and structure of organic material
--isotopic fractionation between organic and inorganic --phases.
--Seek trace atmospheric species indicative of extant life.

Measure the detailed atmospheric composition to establish the geological history
of the planet and to document the processes involved in seasonal climatic
changes or diurnal cycling.

Investigate the oxidative state of the martian surface,
rock interiors and beneath boulders.

Examine the geological nature of the rocks, their chemistry,
mineralogy, petrology and age.

Characterise the geomorphology of the landing site.

Appraise the environmental conditions including temperature,
pressure, wind speed, UV flux, oxidation potential, dust environment etc.

[ASA Vet]

petrology??

It's all about oil!!

[Chummy]

Our family beagle is almost as excited as am I about this Mars landing! He's been pondering a hunt for Little Green Bunnies.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I'd love to hear him run the little green rabbits.

[FourtySeven]

Here's a question to throw into the mix:

Anyone know if this or any other upcoming probes to Mars will photograph the infamous "Face on Mars" again? I love seeing pictures that are more and more detailed of that region; if only to laugh at the original. hehe

[Chummy]

Thanks! His is a beautiful call, and on Mars there'd be no bramble in which the Little Green Bunnies may hide!

[cogitator]

before performing a breaking maneuver

Ahem, that should be "braking maneuver".

Too many Mars missions have performed a breaking maneuver. I.e. they maneuvered, then they broke. Here's hoping Mars Express is one of the minority, a successful Mars probe.

[TomB]

We are just getting the first images back from Beagle 2.....

[Lokibob]

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.beagle2.com/news/index.htm   Next Stop Mars! 19-Dec-03 11:28 GMT  ...................................................
Summary We have separation! That was the message from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, to announce that the British-built Beagle 2 spacecraft is now flying independently from its Mars Express "mother ship". Initial confirmation that the separation manoeuvre has been successful came at 10.42 GMT, when Mars Express mission control at ESOC received telemetry data to indicate that electrical disconnection had taken place between Beagle 2 and the orbiter. This was followed at 11.12 GMT by confirmation that the two spacecraft had mechanically separated.  ...................................................
Full story It is hoped that the orbiter's onboard Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) has been able to capture images showing the slowly spinning Beagle 2 gradually pulling away from Mars Express. If all goes well, these images should be available early this afternoon. "I'd like to congratulate everyone who has been a part of this project, particularly the team that built the Spin up and Eject Mechanism," said UK Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury. "This is an extraordinary example of the best of British engineering as well as the best of British science." Comparing it to a two-legged soccer or football match, both of which were being played away, Beagle 2 Lead Scientist Prof. Colin Pillinger said, "We've got a 1-0 result in the first leg, we're playing the second leg on Christmas Day." The separation manoeuvre involved the use of a spring mechanism to give the lander a gentle push away from the orbiter. Now stabilised as it spins like a top at a rate of 14 rpm, Beagle 2 is pulling ahead of Mars Express at a rate of about 0.3 m/s (1 ft/s). The separation marked the first key landmark at the beginning of a tense week for the Beagle 2 team. From now on, Beagle 2 will be on its own and looking after itself in terms of stability, power, thermal control and entry sequencing. Following a carefully targeted ballistic trajectory, the 68.8 kg probe will remain switched off for most of the 5 million kilometre coast phase to Mars. Then, a few hours before entering the Martian atmosphere, an onboard timer will turn on the power and boot up Beagle's computer. Beagle 2 must rely on its own battery until its solar arrays are fully deployed on the surface. Early on 25 December, Beagle 2 will plunge into the atmosphere at a speed of more than 20 000 km per hour (12,500 mph) before parachuting to its planned landing site, a broad basin close to the Martian equator, known as Isidis Planitia. Later that day, Mars Express should enter orbit around Mars.

[RightWhale]

The spacecraft has separated! It was designed to do this; this is not a problem.

[Analyzing Inconsistencies]

Couldn't we get SOOOO much more accomplished regarding Mars (etcetera) if only government space agencies such as NASA simply offered competitive prizes like the one Charles Lindberg won for crossing the Atlantic? NASA's allowed to propose competitive prizes but unlike DARPA, NASA conveniently won't jeopardize its bureaucrats' and pet contractors' sinecures (I mean "jobs") by offering them. For more on this statist scandal from the space program which has a larger budget than all the rest of the world's civilian space agencies COMBINED:

http://www.SpaceProjects.com/prizes

[DugwayDuke]

One wonders how large the "prize" might have to be to provide an incentive to land a probe on Mars? Since it would have to be large enough to cover expenses plus a risk premium, how does this save money?