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Still No Contact from Beagle 2

Many of you have submitted this, so this will be a condensing of the relevant information. WebfishUK writes: "The BBC has just released this story which announces the failure of the latest and possibly best chance to contact the British built Mars probe, Beagle 2. Given that Mars Express was designed to communicate with Beagle (unlike the earlier attempts with NASA's Mars Odyssey), this may indicate that something catastrophic has happened to Beagle 2." From Bromrrrrr: "[The] ESA is reporting that the Mars Express, which everybody was hoping would be able to get through to the poor lost puppy, has failed its first attempt. 'We have not lost hope yet to contact Beagle 2, but we also know that it has landed on an unforgiving planet,' said David Southwood, ESA's Director of Science." and I-R-Baboon adds: "The Mars Express mothership from the EU passed 350 km over the intended landing site of the Beagle 2 hearing only silence. Although nothing was heard, hope has not been given up yet, as scientists will keep trying until February, with more passovers of the Beagle 2's landing site on January 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, and 14th." Additional updates can be obtained from the Beagle 2 homepage as well as from the ESA's homepage for the Mars Express. Here's hoping that the lander is only down, and not out.

35 of 637 comments (clear)

  1. Calling it quits? by ActionPlant · · Score: 3, Funny

    So do they just give up, or hope Spirit can eventually find it and give it a doggie biscuit?

    Damon,

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    1. Re:Calling it quits? by ActionPlant · · Score: 4, Funny

      Maybe they should have installed wipers...

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      http://actionPlant.com
    2. Re:Calling it quits? by Sloppy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Excellent idea. We could build a dedicated Beagle-repair-bot and launch it and have it land on Mars, for somewhere around 1 billion dollars. Then it could land near Beagle and repair it, giving us 40 million dollars worth of scientific data from the Beagle site.

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    3. Re:Calling it quits? by Eccles · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're calling the people who built, launched and sent a semi-autonomous probe through space and landed it on another planet stupid?

      Hey, it's not rocket sci -- er, um, never mind.

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
    4. Re:Calling it quits? by Feztaa · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sounds to me like Martian wind is more likely to blow dust onto the solar panels, killing them prematurely, rather than blowing them off and saving them.

      Besides, windshield wipers would have been infeasible; where on Mars would they buy Wiper fluid from when they run out? ;)

  2. martians! by XO · · Score: 3, Funny

    Damn, those martians shot down another one of our probes!

    They have much better aim than, say, Saddam Hussein's SCUD missle launchers!

    Hey, maybe Saddam hid his better weapons of mass destruction ON MARS!!!!!!!!!!!

    --
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    1. Re:martians! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unless you want Bush to invade mars, I suggest you keep quiet.

  3. Alas by Jailbrekr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Their rover turned out to be a dog.....

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    Feed the need: Digitaladdiction.net
  4. Re:Chalk one up to American quality! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    And second to get into space

    In Sovjet Russia... nah...

  5. Man, what a pain by Raul654 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Retrieving the black box is going to be a *bitch* :)

    --


    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
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  6. The Beagle 2 finally sent a reply. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The 'Beagle 2' finally sent the first pictures and an explaination why it didn't sent earlier click here.

  7. Re:Chalk one up to American quality! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    do I detect an oxymoron?

  8. McCoy... by Kunta+Kinte · · Score: 2, Funny

    He's dead, Jim!

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    Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
  9. going in circles by MonkeysKickAss · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe he just ran in circles chasing until he was so dizzy that he just fell of Mars

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    MonkeysKickAss
  10. Re:Still no luck by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I've been crossing my eyes at Nasa's Mars photos for half an hour and I still can't see a beagle!"

    Dupe.

    On the plus side, though, you're well on your way to becoming a Slashdot editor.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  11. Well, That's It by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Time for the rescue mission. This is the perfect opportunity to launch mankind's first Mission to Mars.

    I mean, who wants to be the one responsible for leaving a beagle on Mars? Can you just imagine the commercials?

    "Lost: Puppy on Red Planet. Will accept offers to build a multi-billion dollar spacecraft to retrieve him. Answers to the name Beagle. Please help him come home with your donation."

    I'm telling you, if people fall for Nigerian and Viagra schemes, we can get them to finance this thing within 10 years. Maybe less, if we also target the people who buy penis enhancement pills.

  12. If I were a martian... by Stradenko · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd be real pissed at you earthlings dumping all your cruddy robots on my planet.

    Mars is *not* a landfill!
    Ruining our ecosystem with your trash!

    Death to earth!
    Where's the ka-boom?

  13. Unforgiving planet? by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but we also know that it has landed on an unforgiving planet
    Well now there's the problem -- next time we should just go to a forgiving planet instead. What were we thinking?

  14. Re:did it even get to mars? by fmaxwell · · Score: 2, Funny

    No. They had no telemetry, no radio signals, and gravity reversed itself at the last minute.

    Some of the questions on Slashdot are just scary.

  15. You figure it out by Raul654 · · Score: 3, Funny

    It was supposed to touch down in a certain area. A few minutes after it was supposed to touch down, they noticed a big, smoking crater. They're trying to figure out of the two are related.

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    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
    --E.C. Stanton
  16. Userfriendly said it by nocomment · · Score: 2, Funny
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  17. Re:next time by Rorschach1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's kind of like asking why they don't make the whole airplane the way they make the black box.

    How heavily armored do you think that radio would have to be to survive hitting the surface at 10,000 mph? Or even 500 mph, for that matter? Flight data recorders aren't designed to keep functioning after a crash - they're designed to preserve the recording.

    Here's a better idea for a cheap 'beacon' - fill a bladder with a bunch of flourescent dye, then when it disappears you look for the big splat.

  18. They found it!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They named the new crater Beagle II.

  19. Re:Still no luck by tambo · · Score: 3, Funny
    Better still: I first read the title as "Still no contact from billg."

    Either my contact lens prescription is woefully out of date, or my brain has veered into wishful-thinking territory.

    - David Stein

    --
    Computer over. Virus = very yes.
  20. Re:Correction by Naffer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pinging beagle-2.co.uk with 32 bytes of data
    Request timed out.
    Request timed out.
    Request timed out.
    Request timed out.
    Ping statistics for beagle-2.co.uk:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)

  21. Lost Dog by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Funny
    ...but we also know that it has landed on an unforgiving planet...

    And by landed on we mean crashed into.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  22. I'd like to.. by MoronGames · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd like to commend the Martian defense personnel. They did an excellent job taking out Beagle 2, but it's too bad they were too "partied out" to get Spirit. Better luck to them next time!

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    hey!
  23. Re:next time by Sloppy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Clearly, these rocket scientists are stupider than a typical Slashdotter. Next time, they ought to just Ask Slashdot before sending a probe, so that smart people like you can come up with ideas that they never would have thought of.

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  24. Re:I'm European by CaptBubba · · Score: 4, Funny
    Hey, you should be proud. England's scientists and engineers have joined the exclusive club of people able to point at a hole on another planet and say "I did that."

    Just think about it, to get to Mars they had to get a spacecraft going faster than a bullet in just the right direction so that a few months in the future it would hit something that is little more than a red speck in the night sky.

  25. Re:Chalk one up to American quality! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Russia did want to do a moon landing, but the US wouldn't let them use the sound stage.

  26. Re:How can this be "interesting" ? by BJZQ8 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let's use an indestructable shell around the entire unit, made of a couple of layers of Unobtanium! And also maybe some chocolate milkshakes.

  27. It's dead, Jim by eclectro · · Score: 2, Funny


    The victim of lame slashdot humor. It never had a chance.

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    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  28. Vyger by zCyl · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn, those martians shot down another one of our probes!

    Perhaps someday a martian will stumble across it, fix it, make it intelligent, and Bagel will come back to us searching for its Creator.

  29. It's not really a failure for the Brits by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 2, Funny
    We've done at least as well as the Roswell aliens did:

    Bravely navigate the endless black depths of space to a new and strange planet. Then crash.

    --
    When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
  30. beagle found by Tom · · Score: 2, Funny

    Looks like they found the problem:

    crash image

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