In the fourth instalment of the BBC News Online Mars Express diary, John Reddy describes the race to get Europe’s first probe to the Red Planet ready for launch.
February 7th, 2003
British-built probe links up with Mars Express Ananova
A British-built space probe is beginning the first leg of a
February 6th, 2003
Britain’s rocky road to Mars
The British-built Mars lander, Beagle 2, is about to leave home on the first leg of its journey to the Red Planet. It will be shipped to southern France to join the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft. The main spacecraft and the lander are set to take off from the Russian spaceport at Baikonur in May or June.
January 12th, 2003
Final touches to the space oddity destined for Mars … via Scotland Sunday Herald
A British-led space expedition will this weekend complete a revolutionary landing craft that could finally prove the existence of life on Mars. Technicians working on the ambitious project, branded mission impossible when it was first proposed in 1997, are expected to complete final preparations on the Beagle 2 lander following just two years of development. A collaborative effort between a consortium of univer sities, research support units and industry, the team’s leaders are confident the spectacular launch will restore the UK’s reputation as a leading light of scientific discovery.
January 5th, 2003
Colin Pillinger: One man and his dog, bound for planet Mars The Independent
The IoS interview: Colin Pillinger, professor of planetary science and inventor of Beagle 2. The year is 1956, and in an ordinary house near Bristol, a boy named Colin Pillinger hunches over the family radio to listen to that week’s episode of Journey into Space. Nearby lies a copy of the Eagle comic, its cover telling the latest instalment of Dan Dare, spaceman.
January 4th, 2003
European Space Agency Prepares for Mars Voyage DW-World.DE
With the planets aligning just right, the European Space Agency is moving forward with plans to launch the Mars Express in June
December 25th, 2002
Europe’s ascent on Mars
A year from now, a European spacecraft should arrive at the Red Planet. Mars Express will orbit the fourth planet and drop off a robot to explore its rocky red surface. BBC News Online talks to David Southwood, director of science at the European Space Agency (Esa), about the mission. This time next Christmas, a small robot, built in Britain, should be exploring the rocky surface of Mars.
December 22nd, 2002
British experts to probe signs of life on Mars Australian Broadcasting Corporation
British experts have put on display a robot lander that could settle one of the most pressing questions in space science today: whether life, or the potential for it, exists on Mars. The probe, Beagle 2, will be placed aboard a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft, Mars Express, which is scheduled to blast off from Russia’s Baikonur launchpad in Kazakhstan next May 23. If all goes well, exactly one year from now the mother ship will drop off its tiny golden baby as it finally nears the Red Planet.
December 20th, 2002
British lander gears up for Mars
British scientists are putting the finishing touches to Beagle 2, the robot that will look for signs of life on Mars. In about a year’s time it should be exploring the surface of the Red Planet.
December 20th, 2002
Mars search mission prepares for lift-off The Scotsman
The smallest and most sophisticated spacecraft of its type ever designed was being packed up yesterday in readiness for its mission to search for life on Mars next year. Scientists at the Open University in Milton Keynes were preparing to close the lid on the Beagle 2 landing craft, which weighs a little more than its canine namesake and is the size of a bicycle wheel.