Skip to comments.
No Mars signal from Beagle probe
BBC On Line ^
| Thursday, 25 December, 2003
| staff writer
Posted on 12/25/2003 10:23:40 AM PST by 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.
TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: beagle2; mars
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-63 next last
To: yankeedame
Prof. Pillinger is definitely going for that hip new Asimov look.
2
posted on
12/25/2003 10:26:26 AM PST
by
avg_freeper
(Gunga galunga. Gunga, gunga galunga)
To: yankeedame
WOW! Look at those Lamb Chops!
3
posted on
12/25/2003 10:29:20 AM PST
by
cmsgop
(Whatever You Do,..... Do Not PING Arthur McGowan)
To: yankeedame
There might be a justifiable uproar if this trip is a failure.
To: avg_freeper; yankeedame; cmsgop; Willie Green
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?
To: cmsgop
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......!
6
posted on
12/25/2003 10:35:18 AM PST
by
Squantos
(Support Mental Health !........or........ I'LL KILL YOU !!!!)
To: yankeedame
We are not surprised.
We are not amused.
7
posted on
12/25/2003 10:38:08 AM PST
by
Quix
(Particularly quite true conspiracies are rarely proven until it's too late to do anything about them)
To: yankeedame
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!"
8
posted on
12/25/2003 10:38:47 AM PST
by
Revolting cat!
(Merry Shopping Season and a Happy Pre-Christmas Storewide Sales Event!)
To: yankeedame
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!"
9
posted on
12/25/2003 10:38:47 AM PST
by
Revolting cat!
(Merry Shopping Season and a Happy Pre-Christmas Storewide Sales Event!)
To: Revolting cat!
I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything!
10
posted on
12/25/2003 10:39:22 AM PST
by
Revolting cat!
(Merry Shopping Season and a Happy Pre-Christmas Storewide Sales Event!)
To: yankeedame
It's been a bad week for Brit dogs...
11
posted on
12/25/2003 10:41:59 AM PST
by
gorush
To: yankeedame
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
12
posted on
12/25/2003 10:42:54 AM PST
by
Husker24
To: yankeedame
"Good morning, Dr. Chandra. I am ready for my first lesson today"
"There is a message for you"
13
posted on
12/25/2003 10:44:18 AM PST
by
baclava
To: Husker24; Squantos
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?
To: Revolting cat!
15
posted on
12/25/2003 10:59:50 AM PST
by
Momaw Nadon
(Goals for 2004: Re-elect President Bush, over 60 Republicans in the Senate, and a Republican House.)
To: cmsgop
WOW! Look at those Lamb Chops! He's certainly got the whole Captain Kangaroo thing going on, big time!
16
posted on
12/25/2003 11:03:53 AM PST
by
Orangedog
(Remain calm...all is well! [/sarcasm])
To: yankeedame
I thought I heard that the Beagle indicated the presence of quail, though.
17
posted on
12/25/2003 11:06:04 AM PST
by
the invisib1e hand
(do not remove this tag under penalty of law.)
To: the invisib1e hand
I've often wondered what happened to Dan. Can you spell pertater?
18
posted on
12/25/2003 11:10:36 AM PST
by
Arkie2
To: yankeedame
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.
19
posted on
12/25/2003 11:20:49 AM PST
by
Search4Truth
(When a man lies he murders some part of the world.)
To: Arkie2
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!
20
posted on
12/25/2003 11:28:49 AM PST
by
TalBlack
("Tal, no song means anything without someone else...")
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-63 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson