European scientists said Monday they are examining an image of its Beagle 2 Mars lander, taken moments after it separated from its mothership and later was lost, that also shows an unidentified object. The mysterious blot on the photograph is being scrutinized as one of several potential reasons for the failure of the mission — Europe's first attempt to land a probe on the Red Planet. Mission controllers said they were also considering the possibility that Beagle 2 simply crashed onto the surface of Mars because its atmosphere was less dense than expected. Scientists said they are examining photographs of the landing site that show four bright spots, dubbed the "string of pearls," that might be the remains of Beagle 2. Beagle 2 has not been heard from since it was ejected from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter in mid-December. The 143-pound probe did not respond to scheduled attempts to contact it on Dec. 25 and has remained silent ever since. Mission controllers admitted defeat last month after repeated attempts at communication and last-ditch changes to programming. Mark Sims, Beagle 2 mission manager, showed fellow scientists an image of the lander as it spun away from Mars Express, depicting both a bright spot in the shade of the side of the lander and an entirely separate object. Sims said the image was still being analyzed to determine whether the marks are significant or simply a result of the imaging process. "The bright object and the glint on the side of Beagle 2 may be nothing, they may be everything," Sims said. Sims added that the "string of pearls" images may also simply show artifacts of the imaging process.
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