Mars Express en Beagle 2

Beagle 2 zou op Kerstochtend 25 december 2003 om 03.45 u. aan zijn afdaling naar Mars moeten zijn begonnen.

  • Odyssey orbiter's view of the Beagle landing site
  • Mars Express web streaming
  • Mars Express mission facts
  • Beagle 2 lander homepage
  • Latest images of the dust storm on Mars
  • Chronology of Mars Exploration


    LAATSTE NIEUWS


  • Kennislink, 23 januari 2004: Mars geeft bodem niet makkelijk prijs
  • Planet Internet, 23 januari 2004: Water gevonden op Mars


    Beagle2 PR26

    22 January 2004

    Beagle 2 - Latest communication attempts

    On 12 January a period of radio silence was initiated when no attempts were made to contact Beagle 2. Maintaining radio silence for a period of ten days is intended to force Beagle 2 into a communication mode that should ensure that the transmitter is switched on for the majority of the daytime on Mars and thus will improve the chance of the Mars Express orbiter making contact.

    During this ten-day period Mars Express has listened for Beagle 2 but only for very short periods when Beagle 2 may not have been switched on.

    The ten-day radio silence period ends today [22 January], just before a fly-over by Mars Express. However, it is not intended to hail the Lander immediately. This cautious approach is based on the fact that the end of the ten-day period of radio silence cannot be predicted with total confidence. This is because the absolute accuracy of the timer on Beagle 2 could have been affected by the temperature on Mars, making the clock run slightly faster or slower than predicted.

    It has therefore been decided to choose a pair of opportunities when Mars Express flies over the Beagle 2 landing site, namely the nights of 24 and 25 January. These two flights cover the widest possible area where Beagle 2 should be, giving the best chance of calling the Lander and getting a response from the continuous transmission.

    The results from these latest attempts to communicate with Beagle 2 will be announced by Prof. Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 Lead Scientist and Dr. Mark Sims, Beagle 2 Mission Manager, on 26 January, at a media briefing at 1400 GMT.


    Beagle2 PR25

    NO SIGNAL FROM BEAGLE 2

    1030 GMT Monday 12 January 2004

    No signal was received from Beagle 2 this morning when ESA's Mars Express orbiter passed over the landing site around 0220 GMT. Prof. Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 Lead Scientist, was present at ESOC when the data came through and although the news was disappointing Prof. Pillinger was encouraged by the continued support and determination of the team at ESA's mission control centre to continue the search. The next phase will be to initiate a period of radio silence where no communication attempts will be made with Beagle 2 until the 22 January. Adopting this approach will force Beagle 2 into communication search mode 2 [CSM2] where the probe will automatically transmit a signal throughout the Martian day [power is still conserved during the night].

    The results from future communication attempts will be posted on the Beagle 2 and PPARC web sites.

    For further details on Beagle 2 and Mars Express see the following websites:
    www.beagle2.com
    www.pparc.ac.uk/Mars
    www.esa.int/mars


    B2MIN24

    1930 GMT, 10 January 2004

    No signal from Beagle 2 was detected during today's pass by ESA's Mars Express orbiter, which flew over the landing site around 14:04 GMT.

    The next opportunity for Mars Express to detect a signal from Beagle 2 is:
    12 January, around 02:02 GMT

    The results of future communication opportunities will be posted on the Beagle 2 and PPARC Web sites.


    Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    1800 GMT, 9 January 2004

    No signal from Beagle 2 was detected during today's pass by ESA's Mars Express orbiter, which flew over the landing site around 13:27 GMT.

    The next opportunities for Mars Express to detect a signal from Beagle 2 are as follows:
    10 January, around 14:04 GMT
    12 January, around 02:02 GMT

    The results of future communication opportunities will be posted on the Beagle 2 and PPARC Web sites.


    Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    14.00 GMT, 9 January 2004

    No signal from the latest Mars Express attempt

    Yesterday's pass over the Beagle 2 landing site by ESA's Mars Express orbiter which occurred at about 12:50 GMT(8th January) was unsuccessful in achieving a result.

    The next opportunities for Mars Express to detect a signal from Beagle 2 are as follows:
    9 January, around 13:27 GMT
    10 January, around 14:04 GMT
    12 January, around 02:02 GMT

    The most favourable opportunity will be on 12th January, the last Mars Express overpass that was pre-programmed into the lander before its separation from the orbiter on 19th December. However, this window will only be available if nothing has happened to reset or alter the lander's timeline.

    The results of future communication opportunities will be posted on the Beagle 2 and PPARC Web sites.


  • Planet Internet, 7 januari 2004: Beagle 2 waarschijnlijk vergaan

    7 januari 2004, 16.30 u.

    MARS EXPRESS HOORT GEEN SIGNAAL VAN BEAGLE 2

    Zojuist is bekend geworden dat ook Mars Express geen contact kreeg met Beagle 2. Mars Express luisterde vanaf slechts 300 km hoogte zes minuten lang naar een eventueel signaal van de sinds kerstmis vermiste Marslander.

    Prof. David Southwood van ESA meldde tijdens een persconferentie om 16.00 uur in Darmstadt een 'droevige mededeling' te moeten doen. "We hebben geen signaal kunnen ontvangen en dit is duidelijk een stap terug," zei Southwood. "We voelen ons erg naar. Het is ook zoetzuur te beseffen dat de Mars Express het zo fantastisch doet, maar dat de Beagle 2 het tot nog toe af laat weten."

    Er zijn nog meer mogelijkheden voor Mars Express om in contact te komen met Beagle 2. Ook de komende dagen speurt Mars Express naar de lander. Aanstaande maandag is er zelf kans dat signalen in een andere modus kunnen worden opgevangen.

    "Maar daarna is het over en uit," reageerde prof. Colin Pillinger, de project scientist van Beagle 2 vanuit Engeland. "We zullen dan naar de toekomst moeten kijken. We zijn erg blij dat de Amerikaanse Spirit het zo goed doet. Maar om de waarheid te zeggen: voor het geld waarmee de Spirit werd gebouwd hadden wij vijf Beagles op Mars kunnen laten landen." "Er wordt mij de laatste dagen vaak gevraagd wanneer er een Beagle 3 komt. Er komt geen Beagle 3, want we zijn ervan overtuigd dat Beagle 2 verder goed zou hebben gefunctioneerd. We hopen dus in de toekomst gewoon een nieuwe Beagle 2 te bouwen en naar Mars te sturen. Hopelijk al in 2007."

    Carl Koppeschaar


    Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    08-Jan-04 17:52 GMT

    Mars Express searching for Beagle 2

    Today's pass over the Beagle 2 landing site by ESA's Mars Express orbiter occurred at about 12:50 GMT.

    Mars Express was searching in 'super-sensitive' mode, which means it was gathering a large amount of data. The ground processing of this data will take several hours. The result, which is unlikely to be known until early tomorrow morning, will be posted on the Beagle 2 website.


    ESA

    Paris, 7 January 2004

    Mars Express: no signal from Beagle 2 so far

    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."


    Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    15.30 GMT, 7 January 2004

    Beagle 2 Fails To Call Mars Express

    Today's first real opportunity for the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter to hear a signal from the Beagle 2 lander passed in silence.

    Hopes were high that Beagle 2 would receive and respond to commands sent by Mars Express as it flew over the presumed landing site at around 12.15 GMT. Not only was Mars Express flying over Isidis Planitia at an altitude of just 220 miles (350 km), giving it an ideal listening position, but it was the first time that the primary communication link with the orbiter had been used during the Beagle 2 mission.

    Speaking from the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, the ESA Science Director, Professor David Southwood, said," I have, I'm afraid, to make a sad announcement, that today, when we were in conditions we thought were very good for getting direct communication between Mars Express - the 'mother ship' - and Beagle 2 - the 'baby' - we did not get any content of a signal, nor indeed a signal from the surface of Mars.

    "This is not the end of the story. We have more shots to play ** but I have to say this is a setback."

    "There are opportunities to contact Beagle still to come, though we've established today that it is certainly not in a particular communications mode that we had expected it to be in."

    Professor Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 lead scientist, expressed his thanks to everyone at ESOC for the efforts they had put in over the last few days.

    "I think all I can say to the whole team at this stage is 'play to the final whistle'. It only takes a fraction of a second to score a goal, and that's the way we will have to look at this and not give up at this time, although it is the moment when we have to start looking at the future as well."

    Efforts to contact Beagle 2 and to pin down its position on the Martian surface will continue in the weeks to come.

    "We have another opportunity to look tomorrow in a more sensitive mode, the canister mode on Mars Express, which is the most sensitive mode Mars Express has for detecting an RF signal," said Dr Mark Sims, Beagle 2 mission manager.

    "We have two Odyssey sessions tonight, when we will be attempting to command Beagle 2 in order to have a maximum chance of seeing data with the canister mode tomorrow. Both of those Odyssey sessions coincide with CSM 1 mode, both am and pm, which will be another opportunity to rule those scenarios out."

    The most favourable opportunity will be on 12 January, the last Mars Express overpass that was pre-programmed into the lander before its separation from the orbiter on 19 December. However, this window will only be available if nothing has happened to reset or alter the lander's timeline. "If we see nothing *, we're left with the scenario of Beagle 2 potentially operating but not being able to receive a signal, in which case we will have to wait till the last back-up mode in Beagle 2 becomes active, which is autotransmit," said Dr. Sims. "The latest date that will become active is 2 February."

    "My personal view is that, if we have not received a signal within 5 to 10 days of that event, then we have to assume Beagle is lost."

    NOTES

    Since Christmas there have been 13 attempts to communicate with Beagle 2 through Mars Odyssey, Mars Express and Jodrell Bank radio telescope. However, Beagle 2 are the only systems tested end-to-end, giving ESA more confidence of establishing contact with the lander in the coming days.

    The next opportunities for Mars Express to detect a signal from Beagle 2 are as follows:

    8 January, around 12:50 GMT
    9 January, around 13:27 GMT
    10 January, around 14:04 GMT
    12 January, around 02:02 GMT

    A backup has been built into the communication schedule such that if 10 scheduled sessions pass unsuccessfully then Beagle 2 will switch to an emergency mode known as 'communication search mode 1'. When the lander switches to CSM 1 it should attempt to communicate during the best daytime and best night-time orbiter pass each day.

    If a further 10 communication sessions are unsuccessful, Beagle should switch to ''communication search mode 2'. This second emergency mode involves the production of a signal throughout the Martian day (power is still conserved during the night). This mode should have begun by 5 January.

    The results of future communication opportunities will be posted on the Beagle 2 and PPARC Web sites.


    Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    5 January 2004

    Mars Express attempts communication with Beagle 2

    The first attempt to communicate with Beagle 2 via Mars Express will be on 7th January 2004.

    The orbiter is scheduled to fly over the Beagle 2 site at 12.13 GMT. The result of this communication opportunity will be announced live during the media briefing by Professor Colin Pillinger and news will follow on the Beagle2.com website afterwards.

    There has been no response from the Beagle 2 transceiver during the 11 programmed passes. Unfortunately, the last four contact opportunities pre-programmed into Beagle 2's computer no longer coincide with Mars Express on its current orbit, so the team is now relying on the spacecraft switching to various back-up communication modes.

    The mission team is now waiting for the lander to switch to one of its backup communication modes. Beagle 2 could already be operating in 'communication search mode 1', during which it listens for 80 minutes during both the Martian day and night in an effort to establish contact with an available orbiter.

    If no link is established by this method, 'communication search mode 2' should eventually be activated. The earliest date by which this mode could become operational was 3 January. In this mode, the receiver is on for 59 minutes out of every hour throughout the Martian day, and the spacecraft sends a carrier signal five times in each daylight hour. During the Martian night, Beagle 2's receiver will be on for one minute out of every five, but there is no carrier signal.

    Although Mars Odyssey will continue to search for the lander, Mars Express will soon become the prime communication link with Beagle 2. ESA's orbiter should pass over the Beagle 2 landing site regularly from 7 January onwards. Various modes of communication can be attempted during passes by Mars Express, although the team anticipates starting on 7 and 8 January with the standard 'hail and command' which has been used with Mars Odyssey.

    The first four passes with Mars Express (7, 8, 9 and 10 January) are almost directly over the landing site and only 5 to 8 minutes long, so they are not ideal for communication, whereas the opportunities on 12 and 14 January are potentially much longer.


    ESA

    4 January 2004

    Closing in on the Red Planet: Mars Express orbit lowered

    Today at 14:13 CET, ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft successfully executed an essential planned manoeuvre to reduce its orbit around the Red Planet.

    A five-minute burn of its main engine brought Mars Express from an orbit apocentre (highest point) of 190 000 kilometres to 40 000 kilometres with a pericentre (lowest point) of about 250 kilometres.

    Mars Express will reach its final operational orbit of about 11 000 kilometres by 300 kilometres towards the end of the month after two more scheduled orbit adjustments (using main engine burns) on the nights of 6/7 and 10/11 January.

    Today’s key move enables ESA to pursue its Mars mission as planned. First, scheduled scientific observations can begin mid-January and, second, the search for the Beagle 2 lander will become much more accurate.

    Michael McKay, Mars Express Deputy Flight Director in Darmstadt, Germany, said: “From the second half of January 2004, the orbiter's instruments will be prepared to scan the atmosphere, the surface and parts of the subsurface structure of Mars with unprecedented precision.

    "The High Resolution Stereo Camera, for example, will take high-precision pictures of the planet and will begin a comprehensive 3D cartography of Mars. The MARSIS radar will be able to scan as far as four kilometres below the surface, looking for underground water or ice.

    "Also, several spectrometers will try to unveil the mysteries of Martian mineralogy and the atmosphere, as well as influences from the solar wind or seasonal changes.”

    On 7 January 2004, at 13:15 CET, the lowest point of the Mars Express flight path will be as close as 315 kilometres to the landing area of the still-silent Beagle 2.

    The NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter and several radio telescopes on Earth have been unable to obtain a signal since Christmas, but chances will rise with the approach of the 'mothership' to its 'baby' Beagle 2.

    Mars Express and Beagle 2 are the only end-to-end tested systems, giving ESA more confidence of establishing contact with the lander.

    Today, 4 January, ESA specialists are meeting with Beagle 2 staff at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt to define a strategy for modes of interaction between the ESA orbiter and the lander.

    Mars Express has Ultra High Frequency (UHF) receivers ready to communicate with Beagle 2. Mars Express Project Manager Rudolf Schmidt and his ESA colleagues are very much looking forward to 7 January 2004.

    Dr Schmidt said: “At this precise time, our Mars Express orbiter is in both an ideal flight path and an ideal communication configuration, right on top of the Beagle 2 landing area, at about 86 degrees. In this situation, we should be able to discern the slightest beep from the Martian surface.”

    Today’s manoeuvre was another step towards the European exploration of Mars, ensuring both orbiter operations as planned and a precise search of the Beagle 2 lander. ESA is looking forward to an exciting Mars exploration in the next months.


    Kennislink

    29 december 2003

    Stille nacht voor Beagle 2

    Wordt het nog iets met ESA's Beagle 2? De kleine Marssonde heeft sinds zijn landing op 25 december nog niets van zich laten horen. ESA hoopt in 2004 via de Mars Express alsnog contact met de lander op te nemen.

    Eén mogelijke verklaring voor de radiostilte is, dat de interne klok van de lander is beschadigd. De lander zou dan op andere tijdstippen uitzenden dan gepland, waardoor Mars Odyssey en de telescoop van Jodrell Bank zijn signaal niet kunnen vinden.

    Een andere en veel ergere verklaring voor Beagle 2's stilzwijgen werd door NASA's Mars Global Surveyor-satelliet doorgezonden. Die satelliet maakte afbeeldingen van de regio waarin de Mars-sonde terecht is gekomen. Middenin het landingsgebied is nu een krater met een diameter van een kilometer en enkele honderden meters diep ontdekt. Eerdere opnamen van het gebied hadden die krater niet opgemerkt.

    Lees hier verder


  • Beagle mothership in orbit shift
  • Beagle 2 blijft zwijgen
  • Scientists find obstacle at heart of Beagle landing zone
  • Third night of silence from Mars, Beagle 2 awaits mothership
  • Team looks at scenarios to recover the silent Beagle
  • Tiny Beagle lander still hasn't phoned home
  • MarsDaily: Mars probe fails again to contact mothership
  • BBC: Beagle hopes hang on mothership
  • BBC: Beagle's long silence continues
  • BBC: Beagle team 'not giving up yet'
  • Mars Express a success, but no one hears Beagle's bark
  • BBC: Fresh bid to find Beagle on Mars
  • CNN: Scientists in nail-biting wait for Beagle signal
  • BBC: No Mars signal from Beagle probe
  • BBC: No Mars signal from Beagle probe
  • Space Floridatoday.com: Beagle lands on Mars, but fails to send OK signal on first try
  • MarsDaily: No sign of life from Europe's Mars probe after scheduled landing
  • Space.com: Mars Express Arrives in Orbit, No Word Yet from Beagle 2
  • Beagle 2 losgekoppeld
  • Stofdoek voor Beagle 2?

    28 december 2003

    Nog steeds geen signaal van Beagle 2

    De Europese Marssonde Beagle 2, die Kerstochtend 25 december geland moet zijn op Mars, heeft nog niets van zich laten horen. Het ESA-missiecontrolecentrum in Darmstadt had gehoopt 's ochtends al bericht te krijgen via de Marsorbiter Odyssey van de NASA. Odyssey cirkelt al anderhalf jaar om Mars en doet in dit geval dienst als verbindingsstation met de aarde voor de signalen van Beagle 2. 's Avonds tussen 22.00 en 24.00 u werd vanuit Engeland tevergeefs geluisterd met de reusachtige radiotelescoop van Jodrell Bank.

    Tot nog toe zijn alle pogingen mislukt. Op 28 december luisterde Jodrell Bank tussen 00.26 en 00.56 u. wederom tevergeefs naar een signaal. In totaal zijn in het geheugen van Beagle 2 veertien mogelijkheden opgenomen om in contact te treden met Odyssey zodat ook daarna dagelijks verder met behulp van de NASA-orbiter zal worden gezocht. Ook de radiotelescoop van Stanford University zal daarbij worden gebruikt.

    Na 4 januari zal de Mars Express worden ingezet voor het opsporen van Beagle 2. Mars Express gebruikt als enige communicatieapparatuur die cab tevoren volledig met Beagle 2 is getest.

    Het laten landen van Beagle 2 was verre van eenvoudig omdat het aankwam op de juiste werking van parachutes. Als die te vroeg zijn opengaan, is Beagle 2 in de Marsatmosfeer verbrand. Hebben de parachutes zich te laat geopend, dan is de lander te pletter geslagen.

    Een mogelijk complicerende factor vormde ook de stofstorm die al enige weken op Mars woedde. De stofstorm zal de landing nauwelijks hebben beďnvloed. Maar als veel stof in het landingsgebied Isidis Planitia neerkomt en zich op de zonnepanelen van Beagle 2 afzet, kan het landingsvaartuigje minder energie opwekken. Beagle 2 heeft geen stofdoek bij zich.

    Carl Koppeschaar


    Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    January 2, 2004

    Odyssey reports no contact with Beagle 2 on eighth attempt

    The eighth attempt by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to communicate with Beagle 2 was made this morning, but no data were received. This was the eleventh programmed contact period, including three communication opportunities with Jodrell Bank radio observatory, since Beagle 2 landed on 25 December.

    News on the outcome of today's communication attempt via Mars Odyssey was delayed for several hours because NASA's Deep Space Network is also being used for the Mars Exploration Rover and Stardust missions, which will be reaching their climax in the next few days.

    As from last night, Beagle 2 should have switched to an emergency mode known as ' communication search mode 1' (CSM 1). When the lander switches to CSM 1, it attempts to communicate twice every Martian day (sol), during the best daytime and best night-time pass by an available orbiter.

    Meanwhile, ESA's Mars Express orbiter was successfully inserted into a polar orbit around the Red Planet yesterday morning. This manoeuvre means that Mars Express will be ideally placed to communicate with Beagle 2 when it passes over the landing site in Isidis Planitia in a few days' time.

    An updated list of future opportunities to communicate with Beagle 2, including pre-programmed sessions with Mars Express, is posted on the Beagle 2 Web site. The next Beagle 2 press briefing is scheduled to take place at the Media Centre in Camden on Sunday 4 January. Details will be confirmed on the Web sites at a later date.


    Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    27 December 2003

    Beagle 2 Teams Continue Efforts To Communicate With The Lander

    Scientists are still waiting to hear from the Beagle 2 lander on Mars. Two attempts to communicate with Beagle 2 during the last 24 hours -- first with the 250 ft (76 m) Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, UK, and then this morning with the Mars Odyssey orbiter -- ended without receiving a signal. Despite this outcome, two teams at the Beagle 2 Lander Operations Control Centre in Leicester are continuing to study all possible options to establish communications with the spacecraft.

    Further opportunities to scan for a signal from Beagle 2 will be undertaken over the coming days. Tonight the radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank and Stanford University in California will again listen for the carrier signal from Beagle 2, while the next Mars Odyssey pass will take place tomorrow evening at 18:57 GMT.

    Meanwhile, scientists are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft in its operational polar orbit on 4 January. Mars Express was always intended to be the prime communication relay for Beagle 2, and the lander team is hopeful that a link can be established at that time if it has not already been achieved with Mars Odyssey.

    "We need to get Beagle 2 into a period when it can broadcast for a much longer period," said Professor Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 lead scientist. "This will happen around the 4th January after the spacecraft has experienced a sufficient number of communication failures to switch to automatic transmission mode."

    Both Professor Pillinger and Professor David Southwood, ESA director of science, agreed that the best chance to establish communication with Beagle 2 would now seem to be through Mars Express.

    At present, Mars Express is far from the planet and preparing to fire its engines for a major trajectory change that will move it into a polar orbit around the planet. "We haven't yet played all our cards," said Professor Southwood. "With Mars Express we will be using a system that we have fully tested and understand."

    "At the moment, I am frustrated rather than concerned," he added.

    One possible cause of the communication failure is that the clock on Beagle 2 may have been reset as the result of a computer glitch. An attempt was made to reset the clock during this morning's Odyssey pass, the first to take place during daylight hours at the Beagle 2 landing site. The outcome of this "blind command" is still awaited.

    Meanwhile, specialists at the Lander Operations Control Centre continue to investigate other potential reasons for the failure of Beagle 2 to call home, including a possible landing off course, a tilting of the spacecraft and a problem in fully opening the solar arrays which could result in a blockage of the weak signal from Beagle's antenna.

    Future opportunities to communicate with Beagle 2 are listed on the Beagle 2 Web site. The results of these sessions will be announced on the Beagle 2 and PPARC Web sites as soon as they are available.

    The next press briefing will be held in the Beagle 2 Media Centre at 08:30 GMT on Monday, 29 December, when Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation, will be a principal speaker.

    The planned communication times are detailed in the landing timeline.


    ESA News

    27 December 2003

    Beagle 2 status report

    Tonight, the Jodrell Bank telescope in the UK detected no signal from the Beagle 2 lander. Due to clear weather conditions and less noise, the opportunity for reception was better than on 26 December.

    Earlier in the evening of 26 December, no signal had been detected by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft flying in orbit overhead.

    The next opportunity to listen with Mars Odyssey will take place at 07:15 CET on 27 December.


    Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    26 December 2003

    Scientists Wait For Beagle 2 To Call Home

    The fate of Beagle 2 remains uncertain this morning after the giant radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, UK, failed in its first attempt to detect any signal from the spacecraft.

    Scientists were hopeful that the 250 ft (76 m) Lovell Telescope, recently fitted with a highly sensitive receiver, would be able to pick up the outgoing call from the Mars lander between 19:00 GMT and midnight last night. An attempt to listen out for Beagle's call home by the Westerbork telescope array in the Netherlands was unfortunately interrupted by strong radio interference.

    The next window of opportunity to communicate via Mars Odyssey will open at 17:53 GMT and close at 18:33 GMT this evening, when the orbiter is within range of the targeted landing site on Isidis Planitia.

    Another communication session from Jodrell Bank is scheduled between 18:15 GMT and midnight tonight, when Mars will be visible to the radio telescope. It is also hoped that the Stanford University radio telescope in California will be able to listen for the carrier signal on 27 December.

    The Beagle 2 team plans to continue using the Mars Odyssey spacecraft as a Beagle 2 communications relay for the next 10 days, after which the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter will become available.

    Mars Express, which was always planned to be Beagle 2's main communication link with Earth, successfully entered orbit around the planet on 25 December and is currently being manoeuvred into its operational polar orbit.

    Meanwhile, 13 more attempts to contact Mars Odyssey have been programmed into Beagle 2's computer. If there is still no contact established after that period, Beagle 2 is programmed to move into auto-transmission mode, when it will send a continuous on-off pulse signal throughout the Martian daylight hours.

    The first window of opportunity to communicate with Beagle 2 took place at around 06:00 GMT yesterday, when NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft flew over the planned landing site. In the absence of a signal from the 33 kg lander, the mission team contacted Jodrell Bank to put their contingency plan into operation.

    At present, Beagle 2 should be sending a pulsing on-off signal once a minute (10 seconds on, 50 seconds off). Some 9 minutes later, this very slow "Morse Code" broadcast should reach Earth after a journey of some 98 million miles (157 million km).

    Although the Beagle's transmitter power is only 5 watts, little more than that of a mobile phone, scientists are confident that the signal can be detected by the state-of-the-art receiver recently installed on the Lovell Telescope. However, a significant drop in signal strength would require rigorous analysis of the data before it could be unambiguously identified.

    Although the ground-based radio telescopes will not be able to send any reply, the new information provided by detection of the transmission from Beagle 2 would enable the mission team to determine a provisional location for Beagle 2. This, in turn, would allow the communications antenna on Mars Odyssey to be directed more accurately towards Beagle 2 during the orbiter's subsequent overhead passes.

    NOTES

    Beagle 2 transmits at a frequency of 401.56 MHz.

    There are a number of possible explanations for Beagle's failure to call home. Perhaps the most likely is that Beagle 2 landed off course, in an area where communication with Mars Odyssey was difficult, if not impossible. Another possibility is that the transmission from the lander's antenna is blocked from reaching Mars Odyssey or the ground-based telescopes.

    Beagle 2 was targeted to land in a large lowland basin called Isidis Planitia at 02:54 GMT on 25 December. The "pocket watch" design of Beagle 2 ensured that it would turn upright irrespective of which way up the little lander fell. Soon after, the onboard computer was expected to send commands to release the clamp band, open the lid and begin transmission.

    The next vital stage was to deploy the four, petal-like solar panels and initiate charging of the batteries. When the Sun set below the Martian horizon a few hours later, the lander was scheduled to go into hibernation so that it could survive the subzero night-time temperatures.


    European Space Agency

    26 December 2003

    Christmas vigil: listening for Beagle 2

    Early on Christmas Day, the Beagle 2 lander descended to the Martian surface. Two initial attempts to detect a signal from the tiny spacecraft failed but further efforts are scheduled during the next few days. Beagle 2’s mothership, ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, will attempt contact early in the New Year.

    Beagle 2 landed at an estimated 03:52 CET. NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft passed over the landing site at about 06:15 CET, and the first unsuccessful attempt was made to establish radio contact during this time.

    The next opportunity to detect Beagle 2 came later on 25 December between 23:40 and 00:20 CET when the 76-metre radio telescope dish at Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK, tried to detect the 5 Watt signal from more than 157 million kilometres away, again without success.

    On 26 December, Mars Odyssey will carry out another pass of the landing site at 19:14 CET. This will be followed up by another sweep by Jodrell Bank early in the morning of 27 December, between 00:20 and 01:00 CET. Mars Odyssey can try again later that day at 07:57 CET.

    On 28 December, Jodrell Bank once more becomes available at 00:16 to 00:56 CET. Beyond that date, Mars Odyssey will continue the search daily, and the Stanford University radio telescope will also join in the effort.

    If all those attempts are unsuccessful, then Mars Express itself flies over the landing site in the first week of January 2004. Of all these potential signal detectors, Mars Express is the only one that has been specially designed and tested to transmit and receive signals from Beagle 2.

    The hope is strong that the Mars Express orbiter will be successful in this task.


    Spaceflight Now

    December 26, 2003

    SEARCH FOR BEAGLE LANDER CONTINUES

    A second opportunity to receive communication from the British Beagle 2 lander failed to detect a signal. Using the 76-meter Jodrell Bank radio telescope, scientists hoped to hear a tone from the lander Thursday night that would indicate the spacecraft is alive on the surface of Mars.

    See our Mission Status Center for the very latest developments


    Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
    Swindon, U.K.

    25 December 2003

    Scientists Await First Call From Beagle

    Early this morning, the Beagle 2 spacecraft landed on the surface of Mars at the end of a 250 million mile (400 million km), six-month trek to the Red Planet.

    Although the first attempt to use NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to communicate with the lander three hours later was unsuccessful, scientists and engineers are still awaiting the best Christmas present possible -- the first faint signal to tell them that Beagle 2 has become only the fourth spacecraft to make a successful landing on Mars.

    "This is a bit disappointing, but it's not the end of the world," said Professor Colin Pillinger, lead scientist for the Beagle 2 project.

    "We still have 14 contacts with Odyssey programmed into our computer and we also have the opportunity to communicate through Mars Express after 4 January."

    The next window to receive confirmation that Beagle 2 has successfully landed and survived its first night on Mars will be between 10 pm and midnight (GMT) tonight, when its simple carrier signal (rather than the tune composed by Blur) may be picked up by Jodrell Bank radio observatory in Cheshire, UK. This has a much greater chance of success because the giant telescope is able to scan the entire side of the planet facing the Earth.

    Another overflight by Mars Odyssey will take place around 18:15 GMT tomorrow evening, followed by daily opportunities to contact Beagle 2 via the Mars Odyssey spacecraft and the radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank and Stanford University in the United States.

    There are several possible explanations for the failure of Odyssey to pick up Beagle 2's signal. Perhaps the most likely is that Beagle 2 landed off course, in an area where communication with Mars Odyssey was difficult, if not impossible. Another possibility is that the lander's antenna was not pointing in the direction of the orbiter during its brief passage over the landing site. If the onboard computer had suffered a glitch and reset Beagle 2's clock, the two spacecraft could be hailing each other at the wrong times.

    The Beagle 2 lander entered the thin Martian atmosphere at 2:47 GMT today. Travelling at a speed of more than 12,500 mph (20,000 km per hour), the probe was protected from external temperatures that soared to 1,700 C by a heat shield made of cork-like material.

    As friction with the thin upper atmosphere slowed its descent, onboard accelerometers were used to monitor the spacecraft's progress. At an altitude of about 4.5 miles (7.1 km), Beagle's software was to order the firing of a mortar to deploy a pilot parachute, followed one minute later by deployment of the 33 ft (10 m) diameter main parachute and separation of the heat shield.

    At a few hundred metres above the surface, a radar altimeter was to trigger the inflation of three gas-filled bags. Cocooned inside this protective cushion, Beagle 2 was expected to hit the rust-red surface at a speed of about 38 mph (60 km/h). As soon as the bags made contact with the surface, the main parachute was to be released so that the lander could bounce away unhindered. Like a giant beach ball, the gas bag assembly was expected to bounce along the surface for several minutes before coming to rest at 2:54 GMT.

    Finally, a system of laces holding the three gas-bags onto the lander was to be cut, allowing them to roll away and drop Beagle 2 about 3 ft (1 m) onto the surface. The whole descent sequence from the top of the atmosphere to impact was to take less than seven minutes.

    The "pocket watch" design of Beagle 2 ensured that it would turn upright irrespective of which way up the little lander fell. After the onboard computer sent commands to release the clamp band and open the lid, the way would be clear to deploy the four, petal-like solar panels and initiate charging of the batteries.

    Confirmation of the successful landing would be provided by a musical "beeping" signal of 9 digitally encoded notes, composed by British rock group Blur. This signal should be picked up by Mars Odyssey as it passes overhead and then relayed to Earth.

    Notes

    Beagle 2 was targeted to land within an ellipse, 30 km long and 5 km wide, on Isidis Planitia, a large lowland basin near the Martian equator. However, the exact location of the landing site depended on factors such as the angle of descent and wind speed.

    The landing site (11 N, 90 E) was chosen for its low elevation, since a greater depth of atmosphere would assist the parachute in braking the lander's descent. Its equatorial location also means that temperatures are warmer, minimising the amount of insulation (and hence mass) needed to protect the lander from the cold Martian night. The relatively flat site was also thought to be neither too dusty nor too rocky to threaten a safe landing (but rocky enough to be interesting for the experiments).

    Sunset at the Mars landing site today was at 07:15 GMT (18:35 local solar time). Beagle 2 is scheduled to shut down and conserve power during the cold Martian night, when temperatures may plummet to -80 C. Sunrise will take place at 20:02 GMT on Mars (07:02 local solar time).

    Beagle 2 was launched with the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter on 2 June 2003.

    Beagle 2 was named to commemorate Charles Darwin's five-year voyage around the world in HMS Beagle (1831-36). Its main objective is to search for signs of life -- past or present -- on the Red Planet.

    By the time it arrived on the Martian surface, Beagle 2 weighed 33 kg, including 9 kg of science instruments. This is the most ambitious experiment package ever flown in space.

    For further details on Mars Express and Beagle 2 see the following websites:

  • www.beagle2.com
  • www.pparc.ac.uk/Mars
  • www.esa.int/mars


    Mars Society Nederland

    25 december 2003

    MARS EXPRESS IN BAAN OM MARS - NOG GEEN NIEUWS VAN BEAGLE 2

    Om kwart voor vijf vanochtend zette de Europese satelliet Mars Express zijn hoofdmotor aan, met het doel na een reis van bijna zeven maanden in een baan om de Rode Planeet te komen. ESOC, de vluchtleiding in Darmstadt, omschreef deze "orbital insertion manoeuvre" als een volledig succes.

    De komende week zullen er nog kleinere koerscorrecties uitgevoerd worden. De satelliet zit nu nog in een langgerekte equatoriale baan, dat moet uiteindelijk een meer cirkelvormige polaire baan worden.

    In januari zal Mars Express beginnen met het eigenlijke werk. De sonde heeft instrumenten aan boord om Mars in kaart te brengen van de bovenste lagen van de atmosfeer tot een paar kilometer onder het oppervlak.

    Van de Beagle 2, de lander die tot vorige week vrijdag met Mars Express meereisde, is nog niets vernomen. Vast staat dat de Beagle Mars heeft bereikt op ongeveer dezelfde tijd als de baanmanoeuvre van het moederschip plaatsvond; onduidelijk is hoe die landing precies verlopen is.

    Bij een eerste poging tot communicatie, met de Amerikaanse satelliet Odyssey, enkele uren na de landing, werd geen signaal opgevangen. Dat kan verschillende oorzaken hebben. Daar zitten een paar vervelende mogelijkheden bij: het niet opengaan van de parachute of het lekraken van de luchtkussens.

    Maar het is ook denkbaar dat de batterijen nog niet voldoende zijn opgeladen, of dat communicatie tussen een Europees en een Amerikaans ruimtevaartuig toch moeilijker is dan verwacht. Misschien komt er pas begin januari, als Mars Express in zijn definitieve baan zit, echt duidelijkheid over de status van de Beagle. Colin Pillinger, de drijvende kracht achter het Beagle 2-project, heeft de hoop nog niet opgegeven, wij dus ook niet.

    Deze spannende Kerstnacht werd door een aantal Mars Society-leden doorgebracht in ons virtuele kantoor in Capelle aan den IJssel. ESA verzorgde live webcasts vanuit het vluchtleidingscentrum en ook Kees Veenenbos, onze man in Darmstadt, hield ons op de hoogte.

    Te gast was Pauline Broekema met een camera-ploeg van het NOS-journaal. Hou dus, om tien over een na de Kersttoespraak van de koningin, de televisie even aan voor het nieuws. Latere uitzendingen zijn om vier uur, zes uur en acht uur.

    We hebben in het bijzijn van de camera's toch alvast maar de champagne laten ploppen. Want ondanks de spanning rond de Beagle is het een mooie dag voor Europa: we hebben een missie bij Mars!


    European Space Agency

    25 December 2003

    Mars Express enters orbit around the Red Planet
    Contact awaited with Beagle 2 on the surface

    This morning, after a journey lasting 205 days and covering 400 million kilometres, the European Mars Express space probe fired its main engine at 03:47 CET for a 37-minute burn in order to enter an orbit around the Mars. This firing gave the probe a boost so that it could match the higher speed of the planet on its orbit around the Sun and be captured by its gravity field, like climbing in a spinning merry-go-round. This orbit insertion manoeuvre was a complete success.

    This is a great achievement for Europe on its first attempt to send a space probe into orbit around another planet.

    At approximately the same time, the Beagle 2 lander, protected by a thermal shield, entered the Martian atmosphere at high velocity and is expected to have reached the surface at about 03:52 CET. However, the first attempt to communicate with Beagle 2, three hours after landing, via NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, did not establish radio contact. The next contact opportunity will be tonight at 23:45 CET.

    The tiny lander was released from the orbiter six days ago on a collision course towards the planet. Before separation, its on-board computer was programmed to operate the lander on its arrival at the surface, by late afternoon (Martian time). According to the schedule, the solar panels must deploy to recharge the on-board batteries before sunset. The same sequence also tells Beagle 2 to emit a signal at a specific frequency for which the Jodrell Bank Telescope, UK, will be listening later tonight. Further radio contacts are scheduled in the days to come.

    In the course of the coming week, the orbit of Mars Express will be gradually adjusted in order to prepare for its scientific mission. Mars Express is currently several thousand kilometres away from Mars, in a very elongated equatorial orbit. On 30 December, ESA's ground control team will send commands to fire the spacecraft's engines and place it in a polar, less-elongated orbit (about 300 kilometres pericentre, 10000 apocentre, 86° inclination). From there, ESA's spacecraft will perform detailed studies of the planet's surface, subsurface structures and atmosphere. Commissioning of some of the on-board scientific instruments will begin towards mid-January and the first scientific data are expected later in the month.

    “The arrival of Mars Express is a great success for Europe and for the international science community. Now, we are just waiting for a signal from Beagle 2 to make this Christmas the best we could hope for!” said David Southwood, head of ESA’s Science Directorate. “With Mars Express, we have a very powerful observatory in orbit around Mars and we look forward to receiving its first results. Its instruments will be able to probe the planet from its upper atmosphere down to a few kilometres below the surface, where we hope to find critical clues concerning the conditions for life, in particular traces of water. We expect this mission to give us a better understanding of our neighbour planet, of its past and its present, answering many questions for the science community and probably raising an even greater number of fascinating new ones. I hope we can see it as opening up a new era of European exploration”.


    SpaceWeather.com

    What's Up in Space -- 22 Dec 2003

    MARS DUST

    A large dust storm on Mars, visible in backyard telescopes since Dec. 13th, has stalled. It's no longer growing and, best of all, has not yet reached the landing site of the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 probe, which is due to parachute into the Isidis Planitia Basin on Christmas Day.

    Above: A map of dust clouds on Mars, Dec. 21st, 2003, from the
    Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard NASA's Mars Global
    Surveyor spacecraft. A small black star marks approximately
    the location of Beagle 2's landing site.


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