It’s a space lander the size of a portable barbecue, stapled to a mothership not much bigger than a household refrigerator, and it’s about to make history. On June 2 – the date could slip, but not by much – Beagle 2 will leave Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket and begin a journey of 400m km. Mars Express will be the first European mission to reach another planet and Beagle 2 will be the first British lander to unfold under extraterrestrial skies. The first carries ground-penetrating radar that will “feel” deep below the surface of a freezing, arid, hostile planet and the second a little mole that will explore the surface and even burrow a metre below it. Between them, they might answer one of the great questions of the past 300 years: is there, or was there, life on Mars?
Mars Express Will Put Europe About And On Mars
On 2 June 2003, the first European mission to Mars will be launched. It will also be the first European mission to any planet. Mars Express has been designed to perform the most thorough exploration ever of the Red Planet. It has the ambitious aim of not only searching for water, but also understanding the ‘behaviour’ of the planet as a whole. But maybe the most ambitious aim of all — Mars Express is the only mission in more than 25 years that dares to search for life.
Riding on Mars Express: Europe’s Fast Track to the Red Planet
Europe is on the fast track to Mars with a boxy little probe and a Martian lander named after a ship that was named after a dog. If all goes well, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its Mars Express spacecraft on June 2, carrying with it the Beagle 2 lander and Europe’s hopes of finding water and evidence of life on another world.
Picture Mars first round winners
How do you visualise the Red Planet? If you would like to share your ideas with thousands of ESA Portal visitors, there is still time. The deadline for round 2 is 28 May 2003. You can draw, paint or make a collage of pictures to present your idea of Mars. It could be the planet as seen from Earth, what the lander might find on the surface, life on Mars, or your ideas for the future colonisation of the planet. ESA will select and publish the best of these in a web animation. Images will be selected based on originality and graphic appeal. This invitation is open to all ages and nationalities
Date Set for European Trip to Mars Astronomy.com
On June 2, a Soyuz rocket will lift off from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and carry with it the European Space Agency’s first Mars-bound spacecraft. Mars Express is not only ESA’s inaugural Mars mission but also the first of at least four missions destined for the Red Planet between late 2003 and early 2004.
Europe ready for Mars
Europe’s first mission to Mars will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, 2 June. The Soyuz-Fregat launcher carrying the Mars Express orbiter, and its lander, Beagle 2, is expected to leave the launch pad at 2345 local time (1745 GMT).
Preparations continue at Baikonur for launching spacecraft to Mars Interfax
The launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft is slated for June 2, Interfax was told at the Baikonur space center on Tuesday. Quoting ESA experts, it noted that launch preparations are proceeding without any technical problems. Final operations are underway before fuelling the spacecraft.
ESA sets the date for Mars Express launch
Just before midnight on 2 June (23:45 local time, 19:45 CET) a Soyuz rocket operated by Starsem will lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and Mars Express will be on its way. The spacecraft was given the green light to launch following completion of a successful flight readiness review on 3 May.
Red Planet Radar: Probing the Martian Underground for Water
European researchers hope to pin down exactly where Mars is hiding its water by looking through the planet rather than on its surface. A ground penetrating radar system aboard Mars Express, a European Space Agency (ESA) probe set to launch in early June, will use radio waves to map out any water reservoirs as deep as 3 miles (5 kilometers) below the surface. “We are looking for serious amounts of water, for mountains of the stuff,” said Iwan Williams, a professor with Queen Mary University of London and co-investigator of the radar experiment. “Everybody believes that it’s there.”
Beagle Points to Mars Astrobiology Magazine
The future Mars landing site for the European Beagle 2 mission, lies on the floor of a large impact basin in the northern hemisphere. Its low-lying plains include strings of cratered domes from ancient volcanoes and a series of small channels that indicate ancient water activity. Called Isidis Planitia, the site may also contain rocks from deep within the Martian crust that were blasted to the surface by its formative impact. Mission planners look to launch in June from the Russian Cosmodrome, then descend to Mars six months later in search for evidence of past life.