Signs of Beagle 2 found on Mars
Press Association
The Observer, UK
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The scientist behind Britain's failed Beagle 2 mission to Mars believes the missing space probe may have been found.Professor Colin Pillinger says that latest Nasa images of the Martian surface suggest the craft came down in a crater close to the planned landing site.
Beagle 2 was last seen heading for the red planet after separating from its European Space Agency mothership Mars Express on December 19 2003.
Part of a mission estimated to cost £50m, the probe was supposed to land on Mars a few days later on Christmas Day and search for signs of life, but vanished without trace.Prof Pillinger said he and his Beagle 2 team were confident the mystery had been solved with the pictures from Nasa's Mars global surveyor spacecraft.
The British scientists have reconstructed what might have happened to the probe, based on the features discovered in the crater.
Disturbance suffered in the crater was consistent with a large impact and other features picked up by the camera were possibly the airbags of the craft and its unfolded solar panels, they concluded.
Dec 20, 2005
Press Association
The Observer, UK
_____________
The scientist behind Britain's failed Beagle 2 mission to Mars believes the missing space probe may have been found.Professor Colin Pillinger says that latest Nasa images of the Martian surface suggest the craft came down in a crater close to the planned landing site.
Beagle 2 was last seen heading for the red planet after separating from its European Space Agency mothership Mars Express on December 19 2003.
Part of a mission estimated to cost £50m, the probe was supposed to land on Mars a few days later on Christmas Day and search for signs of life, but vanished without trace.Prof Pillinger said he and his Beagle 2 team were confident the mystery had been solved with the pictures from Nasa's Mars global surveyor spacecraft.
The British scientists have reconstructed what might have happened to the probe, based on the features discovered in the crater.
Disturbance suffered in the crater was consistent with a large impact and other features picked up by the camera were possibly the airbags of the craft and its unfolded solar panels, they concluded.
Dec 20, 2005
