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<b>Beagle 2 probe 'spotted' on Mars</b><br /><br />By Pallab Ghosh <br />BBC science correspondent <br /><br /><br /><i>The scientist behind the British Beagle 2 mission to the Red Planet says the craft may have been found in pictures of the Martian surface. <br /><br />Colin Pillinger says the images suggest the mission very nearly worked, but Beagle somehow failed to contact Earth. <br /><br />He thinks the craft may have hit the ground too hard - as the atmosphere was thinner than usual because of dust storms in that region of Mars. <br /><br />This may have damaged onboard instruments, preventing the call home. <br /><br />The Beagle 2 lead scientist has been painstakingly studying images of the landing site in search of his spacecraft ever since it was lost on Christmas Day two years ago. <br /><br />Now, he says, specially processed pictures from the camera on the US space agency's (Nasa) Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft show that it came down in a crater close to the planned landing site.</i><br /><br />Full Story <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis: </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>