JPL: Beagle found on Mars by MRO
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 5:25 pm
'Lost' 2003 Mars Lander Found by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA | JPL-Caltech | MRO | 2015 Jan 16
UK-led Beagle 2 Lander found on Mars
University of Leicester | 2015 Jan 16
NASA | JPL-Caltech | MRO | 2015 Jan 16
The Beagle 2 Mars Lander, built by the United Kingdom, has been thought lost on Mars since 2003, but has now been found in images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
A set of three observations with the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera shows Beagle 2 partially deployed on the surface of the planet, ending the mystery of what happened to the mission more than a decade ago. They show that the lander survived its Dec. 25, 2003, touchdown enough to at least partially deploy its solar arrays.
Beagle 2 hitched a ride to Mars on the European Space Agency's long-lived Mars Express mission. It was a collaboration between industry and academia designed to deliver world-class science from the surface of the Red Planet. ...
HiRISE images initially searched by Michael Croon of Trier, Germany, a former member of the European Space Agency's Mars Express operations team, provide evidence for the lander and key descent components on the surface of Mars within the expected landing area of Isidis Planitia, an impact basin close to the equator. ...
UK-led Beagle 2 Lander found on Mars
University of Leicester | 2015 Jan 16