Space & Astronomy

Has the Beagle 2 Mars probe been found ?

By T.K. Randall
January 13, 2015 ·  19 comments

A model of the Beagle 2 lander. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Mike Peel Led by the late planetary scientist Colin Pillinger, the Beagle 2 mission was an ambitious attempt to look for signs of life on Mars.

The probe, which had been carrying a digging tool and an onboard drilling instrument, hitched a ride to the Red Planet on the Mars Express Orbiter. After decoupling and heading down through the planet's atmosphere however it disappeared without a trace and was never heard from again.

Despite search efforts covering more than a decade the fate of Beagle 2 has always remained something of a mystery, but now scientists operating the HiRise camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have announced that on Friday they will be revealing "an update" on the Beagle 2 mission, prompting speculation that the probe may have finally been found."HiRise is the only camera at Mars that can see former spacecraft like Beagle 2," said HiRise scientist Shane Byrne. "It's definitely pretty close to its intended landing spot, no matter what."

"It entered the atmosphere at the right time and place."

If the HiRise team has indeed located Beagle 2 then it will help to finally bring to a close this ill-fated chapter in space exploration and solve the mystery of the missing probe once and for all.

Update: It's official - Beagle 2 has been found. Follow-up article - here.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (19)

Tags: Beagle 2, Mars