No Mars signal from Beagle probe

BBC On Line ^ | Thursday, 25 December, 2003 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Last Updated: Thursday, 25 December, 2003, 12:27 GMT

No Mars signal from Beagle probe

Scientists wait for the signal from Beagle 2

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 ($62m) probe should have landed at 0254 GMT on Christmas Day after a six-month flight.

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

Lead scientist Professor Colin Pillinger insisted that "it's not the end of the world".

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.

The probe must recharge its batteries on the day it lands or it will not survive the first night on Mars.

Speaking at the Open University's offices in Camden, north London, Beagle's lead scientist, Professor Colin Pillinger, told reporters: "Please don't go away from here believing we've lost the spacecraft.

"I'm afraid it's the usual England scenario - we're going to play extra time," he said.

"We always thought we would put Beagle into hibernation because we did not want to risk wasting any power during the first night.

"There is absolutely nothing we can do until the computer attempts to wake Beagle up tomorrow on Mars but tonight on Earth".

He added: "If we do make contact (on 25 December) we cannot send any information either to or from Beagle, all we will be able to do is say that Beagle is alive and attempting to transmit to us."

Mike Healey from Beagle 2's constructor Astrium UK said he had not contemplated a "negative scenario".

"It really should have been able to communicate with Odyssey this morning.

Prof Pillinger said they were now "into extra time"

"But it could have landed in the wrong place or it may not have opened successfully, and the aerial may be pointing in the wrong direction."

He also said there was a "small possibility" Beagle 2 was not able to communicate properly with Odyssey, as it had originally been designed to communicate with Mars Express at this stage.

Beagle 2's plunge through the thin atmosphere of Mars, slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags, is the most dangerous part of the mission.

The worst case scenario is that Beagle has crashed and is lying in fragments strewn across the Martian surface.

But another member of the Beagle team, Ian Wright from Open University, said there was "no point contemplating that one at the moment".

"There are still plenty of things to try," he said.

Successful orbit

If successful, Beagle 2 will embark on a 180-day mission to search for signs of life.

The one piece of good news early on Christmas morning was Mars Express, in another high-risk manoeuvre, successfully entering into orbit around the planet.

The landing could have damaged the probe The craft will send back 3-D pictures of the surface and scan for underground water with a powerful radar.

But the historical odds of success for Beagle 2's mission are low. Despite more than 30 missions launched to the Red Planet since the 1960s, only three landers have reached the Martian surface successfully after a 400 million kilometre (250 million miles) journey.

All of these were costly American missions, unlike Beagle 2, which was put together in record time and on a shoestring budget.

[avg_freeper]

Prof. Pillinger is definitely going for that hip new Asimov look.

[cmsgop]

WOW! Look at those Lamb Chops!

[somemoreequalthanothers]

There might be a justifiable uproar if this trip is a failure.

[Analyzing Inconsistencies]

Related thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1046570/posts

Did Astrium, an ESA-anointed monopolistic contractor, actually WANT its lean-budgeted Beagle 2 Mars mission to fail in order to secure greater funding for subsequent interplanetary missions funded by increasingly stimulated European taxpayers?

[Squantos]

I am one who loves adventure and like to see new things discovered an such but fiascos such as this are such a friggin waste of money, time and effort IMO. But then it's "their" money, time and effort .......... but it's still my opinion.

Merry Xmas......!

[Quix]

We are not surprised.

We are not amused.

[Revolting cat!]

"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!"

[Revolting cat!]

"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!"

[Revolting cat!]

I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!

[gorush]

It's been a bad week for Brit dogs...

[Husker24]

That guy looks like hes from that cult that cut thier weeners off and waited for the mother ship to pick them up, I thought they all commited suicide a few years ago.........lol

[baclava]

"Good morning, Dr. Chandra. I am ready for my first lesson today"

"There is a message for you"

[Analyzing Inconsistencies]

So much could begin to be possible if only we could get beyond the monopolistic corruption that still pervades our space programs: Related thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1046570/posts Did Astrium, an ESA-anointed monopolistic contractor, actually WANT its lean-budgeted Beagle 2 Mars mission to fail in order to secure greater funding for subsequent interplanetary missions funded by increasingly stimulated European taxpayers?

[Momaw Nadon]

[Orangedog]

WOW! Look at those Lamb Chops!

He's certainly got the whole Captain Kangaroo thing going on, big time!

[the invisib1e hand]

I thought I heard that the Beagle indicated the presence of quail, though.

[Arkie2]

I've often wondered what happened to Dan. Can you spell pertater?

[Search4Truth]

Lead scientist Professor Colin Pillinger insisted that "it's not the end of the world".

Well I'm certainly glad to hear that. :)

An eternal optimist.

[TalBlack]

I suspect that we will be seeing more and more of these failures in high-tech. Political concerns drive the makeup of the teams rather than merit and excellence.

It wouldn't seem to make sense this long after the first moonshot that NASA would have trouble doing it again, but I suspect that they WOULD have trouble replicating the Apollo Shots--could be I'm just getting old and cynical.

To be sure I sometimes wonder where America got the nerve to MAKE the moonshot in the first place. Under ANY circumstances its biting off a lot!