[meteorite-list] Mars Express: No Signal From Beagle 2 So Far

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:59 2004
Message-ID: <200401071717.JAA07694_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMZIJ374OD_0.html

Mars Express: no signal from Beagle 2 so far
European Space Agency
7 January 2004

PR 02-2004: ESA's Mars Express orbiter made its first attempt to
establish contact with the Beagle 2 lander, after the two spacecraft
separated on 19 December 2003.

The orbiter made its first pass over the Beagle 2 landing site today at
13:13 CET, but could not pick up any signal from the tiny lander. More
attempts to contact Beagle 2 are planned in the days to come.

Beagle 2 was released on 19 December on a course towards the Red Planet by
Mars Express, the mothership for the 400 million kilometre interplanetary cruise.
Six days later it entered the Martian atmosphere and should have landed on the
near-equatorial site of Isidis Planitia.

Since then, attempts to communicate with the lander through NASA's Mars
Odyssey orbiter and radio telescopes on Earth have been unsuccessful.
 
The Mars Express orbiter successfully entered Mars orbit at about the same
time as Beagle 2's landing. Then, in early January, it made a series of planned
manoeuvres to change its equatorial orbit to a polar one, to prepare for its
scientific mission and to make contact with Beagle 2.

Unlike Mars Odyssey and the radio telescopes, Mars Express has a
communication system that was fully tested to contact Beagle 2, which gives
ESA more confidence of picking up the signal in the coming days.

"We have not lost hope yet to contact Beagle 2, but we also know that it has
landed on an unforgiving planet," said David Southwood, ESA's Director of
Science.

"There are still opportunities to make contact with Beagle in the days to come,
and we are giving our best efforts. Nevertheless, our spacecraft Mars Express
has now reached its operational orbit and is working well; I know the science
community is eagerly waiting for its first results."
Received on Wed 07 Jan 2004 12:17:48 PM PST