A NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars failed on Friday to pick up a signal that would confirm the survival of the European Mars lander Beagle 2, a British agency said. The Beagle, designed to search for signs of life on Mars, is believed to have landed shortly before 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, but three efforts to pick up its signal have now failed.
December 26th, 2003
Beagle’s long silence continues
There has been no signal detected from the surface of Mars on Friday that would indicate the UK-built Beagle 2 lander got down safely. The US orbiter Mars Odyssey flew over the assumed landing zone just after 1800 GMT but heard no transmission. The giant radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in northwest England has been left to listen to the planet for several hours in the hope it can find Beagle. Scientists refuse to give up hope and will continue to scan Mars for a call.
December 26th, 2003
Scientists Hold Out Hope for Mars Lander
European scientists, hoping for a sign their Mars lander Beagle 2 arrived safely, anxiously awaited Friday’s attempt by a U.S. orbiter to pick up a communication after more than 36 hours of silence from the surface of the Red Planet. “It’s like sending somebody a love letter, and you know they got it and you’re waiting for a response,” said Professor Colin Pillinger, the day after the tiny craft was supposed to have landed on the surface of Mars, opened its solar panels and called home.
December 26th, 2003
Beagle quiet, but Mars orbiter a success
Even though a Mars probe has failed to signal it has landed, scientists at the European Space Agency said on Friday the primary mission goal to put a satellite in orbit around Mars was achieved. Officials at ESA headquarters in Darmstadt remained hopeful that the British probe Beagle 2 that was scheduled to land on Mars on Christmas Day will still send a signal to indicate it has arrived.
December 25th, 2003
Beagle 2 Remains Silent as Mars Express Circles Red Planet
super-sensitive British radio telescope failed to pick up a signal from the Beagle-2 Mars lander tonight, deepening fears that the robot designed to look for life may have surrendered its own before setting to work. Ground teams will make another attempt Friday at picking up Beagle-2 signals at 1:15 p.m. EST (1815 GMT) when NASA’s Odyssey satellite orbiting Mars overflies what is thought to be Beagle-2’s landing zone. A first pass by Odyssey early Thursday morning also came up with no Beagle-2 signals.
December 25th, 2003
03:45 CET… Mars Express status report
At 03:45 CET today, the Beagle 2 lander should have entered the Martian atmosphere. The Mars Express orbiter began its main engine ignition sequence to start the 34-minute main engine burn for achieving Mars Orbit Insertion. At this time the two spacecraft will be 2700 kilometres apart in space as they began the most crucial stages of their missions.
December 25th, 2003
Beagle spacecraft ‘reaches Mars’
The British-built spacecraft Beagle 2 is believed to have touched down on the surface of the planet Mars. Scientists are awaiting confirmation that the
December 25th, 2003
Europeans wait to hear if Beagle 2 survived Mars landing Florida Today
Europe’s Beagle 2 spacecraft should be on Mars, but mission controllers in Germany will have to wait several more hours to learn whether the lander touched down successfully. Late Wednesday evening, the control teams sent the final commands to put the Mars Express craft into orbit and to plunge Beagle 2 through the planet’s atmosphere.
December 24th, 2003
Mars Express status report…
At 12:00 CET today, the Mars Express orbiter was 169 000 kilometres from Mars and 156 167 000 kilometres from Earth. The orbiter is now in the final configuration for Mars Orbit Insertion. No more commands are being sent to the spacecraft until after its capture by Mars.