Beagle 2: Last Miles of its Journey to Mars

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In summary: The best communication window is set for the 7th of January 04, that's when the mothership is at its optimum orbit for a direct overhead pass for the Beagle's 'intended landing zone'. The purpose of the Beagle is to trawl for 'Life', I wonder if there is genuine life there, and if so would this lifeform be 'communicating' with itself?..maybe the initial warning echo of :THE ALIENS ARE COMING!..THE ALIENS ARE COMING! have rung out across the Martian landscape..and the Beagle craft has been carted off to..maybe a 'coat-hanger No2?'at AREA 15?, and is currently being systematically
  • #1
ranyart
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As part of Beagle 2 interest, I thought I'd post the mailshot I recieve.

Latest:Beagle 2 is currently traveling the last miles of its journey to the Red Planet alone and without any propulsion systems of its own. Thanks to the careful alignment of Mars Express on 19th December and accuracy of the spin-up and eject mechanism it is now believed that Beagle 2 is heading for a landing ellipse measuring 80km by 15km, much smaller than originally envisaged.

Please see the full story on www.beagle2.com.
 
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  • #2
Beagle 2 should have landed yet, but unfortunately is impossible to make contact with it
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994514

It's frustrating the amount of failures that are accumulating in the last missions to Mars, for example the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999. It seems that is not a unique problem of NASA, now ESA wants to join the failure club.



Edited to correct typo
 
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  • #3
Fustrating. :frown:

Did they ever confirm for certain what happened to the Mars Climate Orbiter? Has it (or its wreckage) ever been found or detected?
 
  • #5
Aw crap. Beagle still missing...
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/12/29/beagle.missing.ap/index.html [Broken]

Japan lost its Nozomi mission to Mars back in early December too.

NASA still has the Spirit and Opportunity missions about to land on Mars (planned for Jan 3, 2004 and Jan 24, 2004 respectively). Keep your fingers crossed (or whatever the Martian equivalent is).
 
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  • #6
Originally posted by Phobos
Aw crap. Beagle still missing...
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/12/29/beagle.missing.ap/index.html [Broken]

Japan lost its Nozomi mission to Mars back in early December too.

NASA still has the Spirit and Opportunity missions about to land on Mars (planned for Jan 3, 2004 and Jan 24, 2004 respectively). Keep your fingers crossed (or whatever the Martian equivalent is).


Keep your fingers crossed (or whatever the Martian equivalent is). I believe it's :Keep your tentacles crossed!

Actually the best communication window is set for the 7th of January04, that's when the mothership is at its optimum orbit for a direct overhead pass for the Beagle's 'intended landing zone'.

P.S The whole purpose of the Beagle is to trawl for 'Life', I wonder if there is genuine life there, and if so would this lifeform be 'communicating' with itself?..maybe the initial warning echo of :THE ALIENS ARE COMING!..THE ALIENS ARE COMING! have rung out across the Martian landscape..and the Beagle craft has been carted off to..maybe a 'coat-hanger No2?'at AREA 15?, and is currently being systematically back-engineered?[b(]
 
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  • #7
MCO - communication problem among (Earthly) teams

Originally posted by phi1978
Fustrating. :frown:

Did they ever confirm for certain what happened to the Mars Climate Orbiter? Has it (or its wreckage) ever been found or detected?
Certain? Yes; it crashed. Wreckage? Not seen yet, unlikely to be seen, even with Mars Express.

Cause of failure? One team used metric units, the other English; failure was guarranteed. Details:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/orbiter/
 
  • #9
well if it is in a crator, they said they might be able to get a signal with one of the orbiters by changing its path slightly.

I am surprised NASA didn't equip the MERs to pick up a beagle signal... I am sure they can probably contact each other
 
  • #10
You'd think that at least one of the craft we've got (or will have) orbitting will have an omni-directional antenna. At least you'd hope that they would...
 

What was Beagle 2 and its purpose?

Beagle 2 was a British Mars lander spacecraft designed to search for signs of life on Mars. Its main purpose was to study the planet's geology, atmosphere, and potential for past or present life.

When was Beagle 2 launched and how long did it take to reach Mars?

Beagle 2 was launched on June 2, 2003, and it took approximately six months to reach Mars. It was carried by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft.

What was the fate of Beagle 2?

Beagle 2 successfully landed on Mars on December 25, 2003, but it was unable to fully deploy its solar panels and communicate with Earth. The exact cause of its failure is still unknown, but it is believed to be due to a malfunction during the deployment process.

What did Beagle 2 discover during its time on Mars?

Unfortunately, Beagle 2 was not able to transmit any data back to Earth, so no discoveries were made. However, the landing site of Beagle 2 was later re-examined by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and evidence of its landing was found.

What impact did Beagle 2 have on future Mars missions?

Despite its failure, Beagle 2 paved the way for future Mars missions and served as a valuable learning experience for engineers and scientists. It also highlighted the challenges and risks of landing on Mars, leading to improvements in future mission designs.

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