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Beagle 2 Probe Spotted on Mars

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yeah-umm-sorrry-about-that-my-bad dept.

evilduckie writes "According to this BBC article photos taken by the Mars Global Surveyor show the European Beagle 2 probe which was lost after it apparently crash-landed on Mars."

1 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why?? by fremsley471 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The lander's weakest point was the descent system. 3 months before the delivery date they discovered that the parachutes were too small and had to chop more vital kilos off the science mission. They were already aiming for one of the lowest parts of Mars, i.e. longest path and highest atmospheric density. Before Beagle landed, a colleague reported that in a lecture the previous summer, Prof. Pillinger said that the parachute's size wasn't critical as it 'collects air' which helps slow the lander down...

    Prof. Pillinger is, understandably, clutching at straws. The science (and academic PR) aspects of Beagle were first class. The engineering (i.e. the expensive bit), was totally underfunded and was eventually overwhelmed. If he can prove that the concept was fine and dandy, but something small went wrong, then he can (with much greater authority) go and ask for money for a new one. However, it's unlikely after ESA's board of inquiry, that Prof. Pillinger will ever be involved at such a senior level again. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMLKAHHZTD_index_0.html