Beagle 2 Found

[dobbins]

Beagle 2 may have been found, looks like it was bad luck instead of a design problem.<br />http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1943819,00.html<br /><br />

 

[rybanis]

Interesting. I just wonder how they could visualize parts of a lander when its hard enough resolving a complete one sitting on the surface. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[henryhallam]

Thanks for the heads-up on this. Hopefully MRO can image this site in high resolution which might lead to a definitive answer.

 

[dobbins]

More from the Beeb<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4542174.stm<br />

 

[n_kitson]

Good news, I guess, that it seems to be have been a freak accident as opposed to a major malfunction. <br /><br />I've always been frustrated by the negative reporting on the Mars Express mission. The media and many on this board have viewed the loss of Beagle 2 as a near total loss of the Mars Express mission. This is naturally a very flawed viewpoint. Hopefully some closure on the Beagle 2 issue will counter some of the negative reports that have been written.

 

[CalliArcale]

Mars Express has been a tremendous success; it is indeed unfortunate that some have written it off, confusing it for the star-crossed lander that it carried. It'll be interesting to see what MRO finds at this site with its instruments. I'd like confirmation that this really is Beagle 2. Not that I don't trust the image recognition people; I have tremendous respect for them. But after the confusion around Mars Polar Lander, I'll wait a bit longer before closing the book on Beagle 2.<br /><br />Interesting story nonetheless. Thank you for sharing! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Mars Express will probably have time for it before MRO does. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[comga]

Mars Polar lander is something the HiRISE imaging team is interested in searching for, so they would probably be interested in looking for Beagle II. Since precise candidate targets have been pronounced for each, they might get to them earlier rather than later. They will have much higher resolution than Mars Express. The period of aerobraking will, as said, delay the high resolution imaging for many months.<br /><br />On the other hand, the announcement that Beagle II was the victim of bad luck, and may indeed be lying open and upright on the surface, comes from no impartial source. They have a big stake in claiming "near success". <br /><br />But time will tell. When it comes, and high resolution tells us more about the blobs in the released image, we may see a nearly functional lander or "egg on your Face on Mars". <br /><br />http://www.msss.com/education/facepage/face.html

 

[mikejz]

That and they are searching for the remains of crashed probes in chronological order <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[dragon04]

ESA put a vehicle in orbit around Mars. Considering the failure rate of non-US Mars missions, Beagle 2 was gravy if it survived.<br /><br />If this evidence pans out, I'll feel better for ESA. They are making a first class effort at space exploration from what I can tell. Beagle 2's failure was unfortunate, but Huygens made up for that.<br /><br />Making the step to the Beyond is every bit as important as the postcards that get sent back. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

If this turns out to be Beagle, then out of four aibag landings on Mars, two of them ended up in small craters! Unfortunatly, Beagle's hole in one would not have turned out as fortuitous as Opportunity's. Gives one pause. What if Opportunity, instead of rolling into Eagle crater after several bounces, had struck The Eagle Crater outcrop first, or worse yet, struck the wall of Endurance Crater? <br /><br />It's hard to account for the element of luck in these airbag landings. Or could the Beagle airbags could have been made tougher to withstand such a landing? I wonder how their toughness rates compared to the MER airbags. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rybanis]

In addition, there is also theories about how inflated the landing bags were when Beagle 2 hit the surface (in one chunk, or perhaps many)... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[telfrow]

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4542174.stm<br /><br />Photo caption: "<i>Three dark triangular features in the centre could be airbags.</i>" <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[holmec]

Oooh! That's got to hurt. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#0000ff"><em>"SCE to AUX" - John Aaron, curiosity pays off</em></font></p> </div>

 

[nacnud]

It realy does look like Beagle, in the below image you can see the airbags as they release the lander. The airbags should roll a bit and then stop, resulting in a pattern of three large sploges and a small one, just like above.

 

[CalliArcale]

Wow, that picture's a lot better than I was expecting. Poor Beagle -- done in by bad luck.<br /><br />By the way, for British space fans, there's a website for another British Mars lander. It's fictional, part of a viral marketing campaign for this weekend's Doctor Who special, "The Christmas Invasion", but it's fun. Check it out: Guinevere One. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[tohaki]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>I've always been frustrated by the negative reporting on the Mars Express mission. The media and many on this board have viewed the loss of Beagle 2 as a near total loss of the Mars Express mission.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote>Yes, if I remember correctly the lander represented only 10% of the mission.<br /><br />A Briton I discussed this mission with on another forum was adamant that this was a British mission up until the failed landing when it suddenly became an ESA mission and nothing good ever came from the continent... lol

 

[odysseus145]

“It’s a bit like hitting the side of the pocket in snooker,”<br /><br />Lol, I have no idea what that means. <br /><br />EDIT: Nevermind. Google says it's pool. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[askold]

So, how many points did the lander score by landing in the pocket?

 

[SpaceKiwi]

Bad luck the Brits. At least it appears to have attempted a nominal landing, and not a <i>Genesis</i> style one.<br /><br />Allied to this discussion, we are told the correct resolutions of imaging equipment on interplanetary craft, aren't we? I see no reason to hide the abilities of these vehicles, save possibly to hide the abilities of imaging equipment on spy sats around Earth. However, even those vehicles abilities are widely speculated, even if we don't get to see sample imaging.<br /><br />I was just irrationally curious as to whether they might be working off slightly better imagery than that released to the media on Beagle 2. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[comga]

NASA has announced that they will indeed be looking for Beagle II with HiRISE on MRO.<br /><br />http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2006/01/03/Navigation/200/203528/NASA+to+help+confirm+Beagle+2+crash+site.html<br /><br />However, I wouldn't hold my breath.