Fingers Crossed for Beagle

Adam_Trask writes "Never has a spacecraft been built so quickly, on so little money, and been sent on such a long journey fraught with so many dangers. Beagle 2 has been carried to the vicinity of Mars by the Mars Express mothership, and released successfully to go its own way for the final leg of the journey."

Comments

Nitpicking

[geeber]

Adam_Trask didn't write that summary. Dr David Whitehouse, BBC News Online science editor did, and Adam_Trask just lifted the sentences out of the article. Shouldn't the poster make that clear?

Wow

[The One KEA]

If this probe does manage to survive, then it will be a testament to the skill and abilities of the engineers and managers who helped build it. Hopefully, its success will inspire the bean counters to be a little freer in their funding in the future ;)

Re:Wow

[capt.Hij]

If it succeeds then this will be taken as an affirmation that cheaper can work. Unfortunately, some will think of it as cheaper is better.

Atmosphere issues

[manganese4]

I would assume the difference between entering a nitrogen atmosphere vs a carbon dioxide atmosphere is the larger heat capacity of CO2? Alternatively, it could be a result of greater drag due to the larger mass of CO2 and the ability of CO2 to deform more readily than N2 and thus increasing its effective coefficient of friction.

Beagel 2 unlikely to boast future british missions

[flyingdisc]

If beagel makes it and returns data it will be a fantastic achievement. To event attempt to do this on this budget is staggering. In real contrast to NASA and even ESA space missions. If it works there is alot to be proud of.

It's unlikely to do much to boast the british space industry. There is little space funding outside british funding of ESA and ESA only contracts out to companies/universities for an equivalent sum as that nation put in. There doesn't look like the UK is prepared to change it's space funding arrangements (too much of research funding is tied up on the ground based observatory stuff) and so the british space industry is unlikely to benifit. This coupled with the increased protectionism in NASA will limit any boast British space projects might get.

Re:No offense

[mhw25]

> I love the British people; they are friendly, clever, well spoken, and generally well thought out. That said, most everything they build is always missing one key ingredient. Maybe poor interface, maybe a critical technical componenet is under-engineered.

Well, the magnificient stations and bridges that Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed/built for the Great Western Railway stood the test of time, retaining both their functionality and beauty. And if you forget the open topped tour buses of London and take a walking tour along the Thames and you'll see how so many of the graceful Victorian bridges still stands despite them not being designed to carry modern multi axled heavy vehicles.

Most British engineering today tends to be rather less assuming but mostly works. The North Sea petroleum industry is one example. The tube is a bit shite at times but you have to consider the lack of investment it had to endure for decades.

Perhaps the greatest reason why British engineering failed to produce some spectacular sucsesses to match their illustrious predecessors is the brain drain - most of the best engineering students left to work in the city for the banking and financial institutions.

At the end of the day you can't blame entire nations, be it British, American, or anyone else for mistakes made by individuals/teams, especially given the cost constraints and management meddlings.