New bid to contact Beagle 2 fails

Guardian ^ | 01/10/04 | Press Association

[Pikamax]

New bid to contact Beagle 2 fails Press Association Saturday January 10, 2004 9:08 PM

The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter failed to contact the Beagle 2 probe in its latest attempt, British scientists said.

Mars Express flew over Beagle's designated landing site on Mars on Saturday but heard no signal, mission scientists said.

Hopes of finding the British-built lander, which was due to touch down on the Red Planet on Christmas Day, are fading fast.

Scientists said Mars Express would make another pass over the landing site early on Monday and would listen for a signal. After that, the orbiter will move to a less advantageous communicating position.

Beagle 2 has not been heard from since it separated from the mothership in mid-December, despite contact efforts by Mars Express, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter and British and US radio telescopes.

The diminutive, 143 lb lander was equipped with a mechanical arm to sample Martian soil and rocks

Mars Express will orbit the planet for at least one Martian year -- almost two Earth years -- using its radar to search for signs of water or ice which may once have sustained living organisms.

[Buck W.]

This dog won't hunt.

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[TalBlack]

I always get a bit suspicious when I see any project being headed by a guy who looks a bit too concerned about public relations and being a "personality"

This mutton chops guy with his 'ain't I cute' smile and his seeming 'its so easy, just listen to ME schtick' doesn't compare well at all, in my mind, with the kind of guy who seemed to predominate at NASA back in the Apollo days. ie: knows what he's doing, goes about his business but couldn't possibly explain it or care to.

If you're gonna blow 50 mil on a space shot you should put the 'cuties' in a front office and leave the planning to people who who have ONLY one thing on their minds: the shot.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

"He's dead, Jim"

[Viking2002]

I hate to tell this to the Brits, but their rover is wheels-up in a ravine somewhere..........

[George from New England]

Wouldn't it be cute if our new arrival could sport some "color" pictures of the upside down Brit one!

[ElkGroveDan]

Actually it had no wheels. It was a lander, not a rover. Picture four trash can lids hinged together and that's about what they had.

Now all they need to do is send the can. We don't want to be littering their space junk on this clean untouched planet.

[Paradox]

This is a shame. It was a great little idea, done on a shoestring budget. I'd hope most freepers wouldn't gloat over this, since the Brits are our best friends in the world. It was a good try, but the lander just didnt work. The other 2/3 of the mission has so far been successful however, the orbiter is quite advanced and should advance the cause of Martian science.

[Calvin Locke]

I hate to tell this to the Brits...

They already suspect a crater and/or misaligned antenna. Ravine, crater, dry canal, hobbit hole. Same difference, in this case.

[SolutionsOnly]

I must confess, I'm feeling a certain smug satisfaction over the European failure after all the US bashing we've been enduring lately.

[Viking2002]

I stand corrected. It's pads-up in a ravine somewhere.

And I have a bottle of Jim Beam in front of me that's about the help me get in the same orientation. LOL

[Viking2002]

If it's like any beagle I know, just wave a piece of cheese on the Martian horizon. It'll come running. LOL :-)

[ElkGroveDan]

And I have a bottle of Jim Beam in front of me that's about the help me get in the same orientation. LOL

I've got a bottle of Brennan's Irish Whiskey for that very same purpose...slainte!

[Viking2002]

Yup, time to pull a Beagle - pads up, antennae down, and unable to communicate....ROTFLMAO :-)

[Simmy2.5]

Disappointing. Well, there is always next time. And, there are those man missions.

Looks like Beagle 2 simply didn't have any Spirit.