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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.
But another way to look at Mars Express (even minus the Beagle) is as a successful cooperation between many different nations -- A skill the US sometimes does not appear to be able to foster amongst itself and it's so called "partners". And I think is loosing out because of it.
While the US may be happy that it's "won" the race (for what, we're not sure. Everyone loses when only half of the planned scientific packages show up to do some previously undone exploring), I look at the internation space station, and the shuttle program, and think: gee, it's sure great that Russia still has those Proton boosters and Soyouzs blasting off from Siberia there. Otherwise what would happen to those poor Americans up there? We can't all do it alone, and even if we could, it's always easier if there are others around to help us. Especially when it comes to space exploration.
Nasa Rover Missions : 400 Million a Piece
1 succesfully landed
2nd in route
Beagle / Mars Express : 345 Million
1 beagle missing In Action
Mars Express working and in orbit
Guess Research and Development Costs is actualy WORTHWHILE
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
Who mods this crap as funny? Do you really think this is funny? Did you laugh at this comment even a little? Yeah, I thought not.
Comment of the year
It is official; NASA confirms: *Beagle 2 is dying
One more crippling bombshell hit the already discouraged and defeated European community when NASA confirmed that Beagle 2 has dropped yet again after Beagle 1 showed to be a miserable failure as well. Coming on the heels of a recent Gallop survey which plainly states that Britain and Europe as a whole has lost the peoples confidence in their ability to innovate and make progress, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. The European space program is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent International Standardized Aerospace Aptitude Test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin [amdest.com] to predict *Beagle 2's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *Beagle 2 faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *Beagle 2 because *Beagle 2 is dying. Things are looking very bad for *Beagle 2. As many of us are already aware, *Beagle 2 continues to lose contact. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
The British Space Program is the most endangered European Space Prgram of them all, having lost 93% of its core engineers. The sudden and unpleasant disapprovals of long time British visionaries Tony Blair and Princess Diana only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: The British Space Program is dying.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
French Space Program leader Jacques states that there are 24 Space Program Engineers. How many German Space Engineers are there? Let's see. The number of French Space Engineers versus German Space Engineers completed space projects is roughly in ratio of 4 to 1. Therefore there are about 23/4 = 6 German Space Engineers. Italian Space Engineers are about half of the volume of German Space Engineers. Therefore there are about 3 Italian Space Engineers. A recent article put British Space Program at about 80 percent of the European Aerospace Industry development. Therefore there are (24+6+3)*4 = 134 British Space Engineers. This is consistent with the number of failed British Space prgrams to date.
Due to the troubles of the European Union, abysmal technological and warfare innovations, and so on, the Beagle 2 has lost all contact with Earth and was shadowed over by the Spirit of the American Aeronautical Space Program. Now Beagle 2 is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that The *British Space Program has steadily declined in consumer confidence. The *British Space Program is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If The *British Space Program is to survive at all it will be among sci-fi dilettante dabblers. The *British Space Program continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, The British Space Program is dead.
Fact: Beagle 2 is dying
Natural Selection: self-destruction of the poor and lazy
We sure are, only some of us (Americans) are better at killing other people than others (Brits and all socialist Europeans in general). Face it schmucks, American aggression and blood lust backed by real crazy politicians and yes, increasing infringements on freedom, have no equal on this planet.
telephone (also invented here).
No, invented here (Canada).
Another thing to be proud of with respect to the US is that our citizens clearly do care about what happens in the rest of the world, as evidenced by our work as the global police.
"We bomb you because we care!"
You can't take the sky from me...