Beagle 2 probe missing 12 years ago found on Mars

As it became known , the Beagle-2 spacecraft missing on December 25, 2003 was found on Mars. Previously it was believed that the module, designed to look for signs of life on the planet, crashed during landing (when airbags and parachutes failed). However, NASA experts found the Beagle-2 using the HiRise camera: the device sat on Mars safe and sound, only the failure of the solar panels that did not release the radio antenna, led to the fact that they lost contact with the Earth.



Beagle-2 is a landing module intended for research in the framework of the Mars Express mission in 2003. Developed by British scientists under the leadership of Colin Pillinger to search for traces of life on Mars. Named in honor of the Beagle, which Charles Darwin traveled.
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Judging by the image, the system was not fully deployed.

“Without full deployment, there is no way to communicate with the probe, since the radio antenna was under the solar panels,” explained Professor Mark Sims, head of the Beagle mission from Leicester University. Part of the video about the discovery can be viewed here .



Beagle 2 was found less than a year after the death of the main probe researcher Colin Pillinger . The Royal Scientific Society announced an award in his memory.


The commission of inquiry, together with the European Space Agency, blamed the failure on poor management and inadequate testing of systems and components. They also acknowledged that too little money was allocated to the project.

With a total budget of about 50 million pounds, the project remains one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever created.