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| Arizona crater comparisons | [MARS] |
| Many of today's newspapers are carrying reports of the Beagle 2 team's press briefing at which the possibility was discussed that the probe may have headed into a region which has a crater
about 1 kilometer in diameter. |
| What would this mean for a safe landing ? The surface of Mars is peppered with craters, large and small. The one at the centre of the area targeted for landing is almost as large as the famous Meteor
Crater in Arizona (see picture below). Anyone who has been there will know this dent in the Earth's surface (about 1.2 km across and about 180 metres from the top of the rim to the base of the crater) was
caused by a meteorite impacting about 50,000 years ago. It is surrounded by boulders and rocks; material ejected from the crater. Whilst landing inside such a crater would not be good news, the
rubble-strewn area around the rim is equally inhospitable for the bouncing gas-filled bags protecting Beagle 2 in the final stage of the landing. |
| But this is all still speculation - we have no way, at the present time, of knowing if Beagle 2 was unfortunate enough to end up in a crater. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 30-Dec-03 19:41:27 |
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| Japanese mission abandoned | [MARS] |
| Following last minute attempts to try to correct electrical faults on the Nozomi probe, the Japanese team have decided not to put it into an orbit around Mars. It will be steered away from the planet instead. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 09-Dec-03 16:25:02 |
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| Mars close | [MARS] |
| On Wednesday 27th August, Mars and Earth will be the closest together that they have been for some 60,000 years. Take the opportunity to look towards the South East in the night sky to see Beagle 2's destination. |
| National Astronomy Week, which focuses on local events starts 23rd August. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 22-Aug-03 12:34:51 |
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| Big Mars | [MARS] |
| Unfortunately cloudy skies over the UK have prevented good views of Beagle 2's target as it approaches Earth closer it than has been for over a decade. |
| Dave Rowntree, the drummer of Blur, and lately specialist computer animator, got excited about Beagle 2 on Radio 1, and Colin Pillinger, against a graphic of a massive Mars that dwarfed the skyscrapers,
explained to GMTV viewers how Mars would be even closer in two years time when Beagle is on its way. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 15-Jun-01 14:12:52 |
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| COMING SOON... Returned Samples from Mars? | [MARS] |
| Martian exploration after Beagle 2 - this Friday 23 March at the Royal Society in London at group of UK scientists and engineers will meet to discuss the feasibility of returning samples from Mars and
outline the scientific knowledge which could be gained from extensive laboratory analyses. For more information contact Professor Pillinger on 01908 652119. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 19-Mar-01 14:36:05 |
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| ESA announces studies of a new Mars mission | [MARS] |
| The European Space Agency is currently looking at its future programme. As a candidate for one of the next so-called flexi missions, the Agency is considering a mission called MASTER (Mars lander Asteroid
fly-by). The project would use technology developed for Mars Express to carry instruments and rendezvous with several asteroids including one of the biggest and best known rocks in space called Vesta. |
| The new spacecraft would use a gravity assist swinging by Mars to get to its ultimate goal. Passing Mars would offer an ideal opportunity to drop off a lander to extend the exploration begun by Beagle 2. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 07-Mar-00 13:14:27 |
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| Martian found in Los Angeles | [MARS] |
| A meteorite found in the USA has been recognised as coming from Mars bringing the number of authenticated martian samples to 14. Dr Ian Wright of the OU tells more of the story on the right. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 01-Feb-00 15:25:55 |
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| Missing water | [MARS] |
| With Global Surveyor Scientists set to report that the amounts of water ice at the poles of Mars were rather less than expected, Colin was asked to speculate on the R4 Today programme where all the water had gone. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 07-Dec-98 18:30:15 |
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| New meteorite initial results | [MARS] |
| The Planetary Sciences Research Institute hosted a press conference to announce the results of analyses they conducted to confirm the martian origin of a meteorite recovered from the Sahara
desert (pictured right). This sample, despite its intrinsic scientific interest, will not answer the questions about life on Mars to be addressed by Beagle 2. |
| The huge interest shown again in martian meteorites demonstrates the appetite of the media and public for all things martian and we hope will aid our campaign to fly Beagle 2. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 10-Aug-98 10:11:46 |
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| New meteorite | [MARS] |
| Various TV and radio broadcasts followed the announcement at the 61st Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting, Dublin that a meteorite of martian origin had been discovered in the Sahara. This new meteorite,
which if it is proven to be from Mars by analyses of its oxygen isotope composition scheduled for next week at The Open University, will be the 13th sample from that planet. It will not answer
questions about life on Mars because its sojourn on Earth for possibly 40,000 years will have contaminated it with terrestrial biology. BBC News Online reported the story under the banner "Search for life on Mars". |
| Nevertheless it demonstrates the excitement which exists for all things martian and encourages the Beagle 2 team to push ahead with the British initiative. Numerous programmes carried live and
recorded interviews with Pillinger about the proposed Beagle 2 mission, its scientific aims and search for funds including a BBC TV interview showing the model of Beagle 2, recorded in Dublin. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 31-Jul-98 20:13:51 |
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