Tag: exploration

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/01/lost-beagle-2-mars-lander-found-11-years-after-launch/

The UK-made  Beagle 2 lander has been found on the surface of Mars more than a decade after it was thought to be lost forever.

The 2003 launch was the result of a collaboration of UK academics, whose nifty lander rode to the Red Planet aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft. By December 19 it had reached its destination and was released from the spacecraft.

“It was due to enter the atmosphere at about 02.51 on the 25th December,” said Mark Sims, professor of astrobiology and space instrumentation at the University of Leicester. But nobody heard from Beagle 2 following its ejection from the Mars Express and it was presumed lost. Sims said he had “given up hope” of ever knowing what happened to the lander.

Now, thanks to images taken by Nasa’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), we have at last found the Beagle 2’s final resting place. Images show that it did indeed make it to the surface of Mars and even landed where it was expected to, at the Isidis Planitia basin. For 11 long years, the Beagle 2’s remaining team members have been scouring images captured by HiRISE for signs of their design. That work—and unbelievable patience—has paid off, because the images tell a story of how exactly the lander got to where it is today.