Professor Colin Pillinger, lead scientist for the Beagle 2 project, commented that this certainly does not mean that the probe had been damaged during its descent. There were a number of possible explanations, the most likely being that the Beagle 2 antenna was not pointing in the direction of Mars Odyssey.

The next opportunity to communicate with Beagle 2 will be late this evening (between 10pm and midnight GMT) when the Jodrell Bank Observatory will listen out for a signal from the lander.