The Mars Express spacecraft, despite a series of intense solar flares that occurred late October-early November in active sunspots regions, is in good health and is operating normally. The spacecraft flew in the intense radiation environment that resulted from the exceptional solar and geomagnetic activity associated with these regions, temporarily causing disturbances on the star trackers. These disturbances, which were over within a few days, did not cause damage and did not constitute a threat to the mission.
November 25th, 2003
‘Europe lands on Mars’ – Media event at ESA/ESOC
ESA’s Mars Express probe is scheduled to arrive at Mars at Christmas: the Beagle 2 lander is expected to touch down on the surface of the Red Planet during the night of 24 to 25 December.
November 23rd, 2003
Mars Encounter, Christmas Astrobiology Magazine
Around Christmas, Europe’s first Mars lander, Beagle 2, will encounter the large equatorial basin known as Isidis Planitia. Unlike the twin NASA rovers also on course for their early 2004 landings, Beagle 2 is more like a mining furnace than a wheeled car. Expected to test martian soil for any evidence of remnant biological activity, the soft-lander continues a journey first began with the 1970’s Viking explorations–how best to explore for biosignatures using a remote laboratory?
November 16th, 2003
Dreaming of a Red Christmas: Mars Express to Touch Down Christmas Day MensNewsDaily
Europe’s mission to the Red Planet, Mars Express, is on schedule to arrive at the planet on Christmas Day, 2003. The lander, Beagle 2, is due to descend through the Martian atmosphere and touch down also on 25 December. Mars Express is now within 20 million kilometres of the Red Planet and the next mission milestone comes on 19 December, when Mars Express will release Beagle 2. The orbiter spacecraft will send Beagle 2 spinning towards the planet on a precise trajectory.
November 13th, 2003
On course for Mars landing icNorthWales
A MID Wales robot is on schedule to land on Mars on Christmas Day. Beagle 2 has just entered the latest stage in its mission to find traces of life on the red planet and the brains or “smart” software for the robot’s arm has been created by six experts from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UWA), who have spent five years working on the project.
November 13th, 2003
Spacecraft to land on Mars on Christmas
A British-built craft designed to scour the surface of Mars for signs of life is scheduled to land on the planet on Christmas Day, scientists said this week.
November 13th, 2003
Going to Mars for Christmas
Europe’s mission to the Red Planet, Mars Express, is on schedule to arrive at the planet on Christmas Day, 2003. “The lander, Beagle 2, is due to descend through the Martian atmosphere and touch down also on 25 December.
November 11th, 2003
Mars Express Dodges Solar Bullet
Europe’s Mars Express spacecraft has overcome the effects of last week’s solar flares, which temporarily knocked out navigation equipment aboard the orbiter while leaving the mission’s Beagle 2 lander unscathed. Researchers with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express mission said their spacecraft is in good health after solar storms blinded the orbiter’s two star trackers for up to 15 hours. Mission controllers said both instruments, which trackers are crucial to keeping Mars Express oriented properly, are now working properly and there appears to be no long-term damage. The flares also delayed a scheduled Beagle 2 checkout procedure, but caused no ill effects otherwise.
November 11th, 2003
Beagle set for festive encounter
The British-built Mars lander, Beagle 2, is on schedule to reach the Martian surface on Christmas Day. Mission officials say its parent space craft, Mars Express, has survived a massive solar storm and is within 20 million kilometres of the Red Planet. Beagle 2 is due to descend through the Martian atmosphere and touch down on 25 December, 2003.
November 11th, 2003
Craft to Land on Mars on Christmas Day
A British-built craft designed to scour the surface of Mars for signs of life is scheduled to land on the planet on Christmas Day, scientists said Tuesday. The Beagle 2 lander is traveling aboard the European Space Agency’s Mars Express craft, launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 2, 2003.