Beagle 2 found on surface of Mars after vanishing for 12 years [UK Spacecraft]

Telegraph UK ^ | 10:00AM GMT 16 Jan 2015 | By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor

[Red Badger]

Britain's Beagle 2 lander has finally been spotted, 12 years after it went missing while trying to land on the surface of Mars

History books will need to be rewritten after scientists announced today that Beagle 2 has been finally been found on Mars, 12 years after it vanished without trace.

The beleaguered spacecraft, which has become a byword for mission failure, was spotted by scientists operating the HiRise camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It was discovered just 5km from its original touchdown site in the Isidis Planitia basin.

And it appears that just one faulty motor was behind the unsuccessful landing. The images show that solar panels which should have folded out to reveal a radio antennae, failed to open. An unlucky bounce on it's side may also have mishapen the probe preventing it from opening up properly.

Professor Mark Sims of Leicester University said: "It's like dropping a tin of baked beans and denting it then trying to get the lid off. It's not easy."

[Red Badger]

Video at link...................

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

Previously it was thought that the lander had been destroyed on impact after crashing to the ground when its parachute and airbags failed to deploy. But now it seems Beagle 2 made it safely to the surface but was crippled when it could not link up to Earth.

[Red Badger]

Lost Beagle 2 spacecraft found intact on surface of Mars after 11 years

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/16/lost-beagle-2-spacecraft-found-mars

[smokingfrog]

[moovova]

Unfortunately, it had been parked in the wrong neighborhood...and the locals didn't leave too much.

[null and void]

[moovova]

Seriously though...

Hopefully, this thing will be in a museum on Earth one of these days. I can see a landing party arriving on Mars, crating it up, and returning it to earth. Of course, science and space exploration will have to advance greatly before that happens. But, I could see my grandkids or they’re grandkids going thru a huge display at a museum. Sort of like the German U-Boat in the Chicago museum or the Hunley in Charleston.

Don’t laugh. Who would’ve guessed you could shoot a blob of metal at Mars, some 2-3 million miles away... and hit within 5 miles of the target.

[william clark]

[Riley]

I was waiting for this.

[IronJack]

So it’s now confirmed: the Beagle has landed.

[chrisser]

Who would’ve guessed you could shoot a blob of metal at Mars, some 2-3 million miles away... and hit within 5 miles of the target.

I'm sure the overall mission was considered a failure, but it's a pretty admirable accomplishment that the craft made it to the surface.

I think, due to the many successes of the U.S. space program over the years, we tend not to appreciate what these scientists and engineers have managed to pull off. 100 years ago, we had just figured out how to fly. Who would have guessed that air travel would be so commonplace as to be monotonous, that multiple humans would actually go to the moon, land on the surface, and then come home safely. That we would send multiple robots to another planet, and out to the far reaches of the solar system. It's just incredible.

[gop4lyf]

We have 3 beagles. Great dogs!

[Vinnie]

The images show that solar panels which should have folded out to reveal a radio antennae, failed to open.

Probably built by Lucas, Prince of Darkness. :^)

[moovova]

I reread the article. I was wrong...it was 5km! Even better.

[pa_dweller]

Couldn’t the Rover go over and fix it?

[ByteMercenary]

Lucas - P.O.D. ... snicker!

You must have owned a Morgan or an MGB back in the day ...

[Vinnie]

A relative owned a Jag.
I remember the old Lucas Flamethrower headlights.

[rey]

“It’s like dropping a tin of baked beans and denting it then trying to get the lid off. It’s not easy.”

NASA is now researching on how to opened dented cans of beans, but of course they cannot open a can of pork and beans due to their muslim outreach program.

[SunkenCiv]

Beagle 2 keyword, surprisingly large:

• Beagle 2 Probe 'Spotted' On Mars
• Ammonia on Mars could mean life
• Britain Says It Learned from Mars Probe Flop
• Beagle 2 Was Doomed Long Before Take-Off, Claims Inquiry
• Scientists examine mysterious images for clues to fate of Beagle 2 [update]
• Astronomers Holding Thumbs In Beagle Search (Beagle-2 Found?)
• Beagle 2 Entered Mars 'Too Fast'
• Beagle 2 Scientists Say Craft Is Lost
• Attempt to contact Beagle 2 ends in failure
• Beagle Team Postpones Search [Europe's Mars Rover]
• Mars 'Grand Canyon' Snapped By Beagle Mother Ship (Picture)
• New bid to contact Beagle 2 fails
• New Bid Fails To Raise Beagle (Mars)
• Mothership Is Last Chance For Beagle 2
• Scientists Pin Mars Beagle Hopes on Mother Ship
• Where Beagle only dares, Nasa arrives in style
• UK: Spirit 'Far More Complex' Than Beagle 2
• NASA 1 Europe 0
• Still No Sign Of Missing Beagle
• Beagle 2/Oh where, oh where can it be?
• Mars probe Beagle 2 has reminded us what Britain does best: heroic failure
• Mars Lander Beagle 2 Remains Silent
• Crater theory over missing Beagle
• Lost beagle on Mars?
• Where Beagles Dare (The Moon beckons)
• Latest Effort to Pick Up Beagle Signal Fails
• Beagle's Long Silence Continues
• "Greenwich, Mars base here, the Beagle has been stranded!"
• British Scientists Keep Up Hopes For Survival Of Mars Probe
• No Mars signal from Beagle probe
• Did European tax-subsidized Astrium WANT its lean-budgeted Beagle 2 Mars mission to fail?
• Heads Up! Mars Lander Beagle 2 Set to Land 8:57 PM Eastern Tonite!!!
• God knows how we will respond if Beagle 2 finds life on Mars (extraterrestrial life and religion)
• Four Spacecraft to Reach Mars Over Next Month
• Life on Mars? A little Beagle may tell us
• Mars Express Positioned for Beagle 2 Deployment
• Inside Mission Control (UK), Preparing For Christmas Day Landing On Mars
• Life's Working Definition: Does It Work?

other lost probes:

• Nasa photos reveal Mars 'crash site' of lost Soviet spacecraft that vanished in 1971
• Mars Probe May Have Spotted Lost Rover
• NASA losing hope of finding Mars probe
• Remains of Failed Mars Lander May Have Been Found
• Scientist Spots What May Be Missing Mars Polar Lander
• Mars ice could flood planet