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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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| Lord Sainsbury attends the press briefing | [EVENTS] |
| The team were pleased to see Lord Sainsbury at today's press briefing. He continued to show support for the project and answered questions from the media. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 29-Dec-03 09:55:13 |
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| A personal thanks from Colin Pillinger | [TEAM] |
| As we wait to hear from Beagle 2 on the surface of Mars, I would like to thank everyone who has sent good wishes and the media for their continued support and encouragement. Up until the
time we are scheduled to communicate with Mars Express, which offers the best opportunity, we are keeping all options open to contact Beagle 2. Keep watching ! |
| The picture shows Professor Pillinger as he waits on the phone to the NASA Odyssey team, for the message we did not want to hear - that no signal had been picked up from Beagle 2 at the
first attempt on Christmas morning. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 26-Dec-03 19:30:26 |
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| Xmas website hits | [INTERNET] |
| The beagle2.com site received 16.4 million hits on Christmas Day! |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 26-Dec-03 19:10:48 |
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| Links:::::::: |
| For more information about our site: |
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| Beagle plays cupid | [MUSIC] |
| Mitch Harris, waiting with the Beagle 2 scientists proposed to his girlfriend at the time Beagle was scheduled to land on Mars. Whilst we await confirmation of the landing,
we are pleased to say that she accepted. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 25-Dec-03 04:48:52 |
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| The all night vigil | [EVENTS] |
| Nobody on the Beagle 2 team has had time to defrost their turkey or finish off present wrapping yet as they are gathered in London, UK, to await the distinctive call sign from Beagle 2 on the surface of Mars.
We have been watching animation of the descent and landing sequence and the journalists present have been briefed about the planned activities. |
| Ian Praine, of Astrium, said "Isn't gravity wonderful - at least we know it's on the surface now!". Chris Courtenay-Taylor took time off from co-ordinating the technical satellite transmissions to do the Beagle
jigsaw! Alex James of Blur commented that we have reached "the edge of the unknown". |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 25-Dec-03 04:30:29 |
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| Listening out for Beagle 2 | [PROJECT] |
| The 76m Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory is ready to try and find Beagle 2 on Christmas evening. At 10:40 pm GMT Beagle 2 will begin to transmit an on/off sequence each minute -
like very slow Morse Code - and about nearly 9 minutes later the signals should reach Earth. The transmitter power, at 5 watts, is little more than that of a mobile phone, but the team at Jodrell Bank
have installed a very sensitive receiver to pick up the Beagle 2 frequency. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 24-Dec-03 13:56:40 |
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| Betting on Life on Mars | [MEDIA] |
| Ladbrokes, the bookmaker, has cut its odds of finding life on Mars from 33-1 to 25-1 after a flurry of bets following the successful separation of Beagle 2 from Mars Express. |
| Whilst these might not be true odds, the firm has taken the decision to minimise payouts in case Beagle 2 finds any evidence. Bets have been placed on the "Life on Mars" outcome since 1969. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 24-Dec-03 09:44:25 |
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| Merry Christmas | [TEAM] |
| Season's Greetings from the Beagle 2 team. For those of you who recognise the card, apologies, Colin and Mark have not had time to get together for a photoshoot so we are using one "we
made earlier" courtesy of the Xscape Snowdome in Milton Keynes. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 22-Dec-03 20:51:14 |
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| Good luck wishes | [GOVERNMENT] |
| The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, wished the Beagle 2 team well over Christmas on this morning's BBC Breakfast with Frost TV programme. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 21-Dec-03 16:29:35 |
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| Beagle2.com hits keep going up | [INTERNET] |
| Yesterday the website experienced 5.8 million hits! The most in one day so far. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 20-Dec-03 15:14:13 |
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| Links:::::::: |
| For more information about our site: |
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| Martian beer | [PROJECT] |
| Attendees at yesterday's event at the Royal Geographical Society were given a bottle of Mars Magic beer, which has been specially brewed by the Wold Top Brewery to celebrate the Beagle 2 project. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 20-Dec-03 14:45:18 |
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| More headlines | [TV] |
| Beagle 2 news appeared on many of the news bulletins throughout the day yesterday. |
| The first picture returned from Mars Express, showing Beagle 2 moving off into the distance, was seen for a full 3 hours in front of the presenters on the BBC's breakfast news this morning.
Presenter Bill Turnbull commented that he was looking forward to Christmas Day when he will be hosting the news, hopefully informing everyone of Beagle's landing on Mars. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 20-Dec-03 13:29:15 |
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| Beagle 2 in the newspapers | [IN PRINT] |
| The story of Beagle 2 separating from Mars Express was featured in all the British newspapers today, including a Daily Telegraph front page cartoon by the Beagle fan Matt. |
| The Daily Telegraph today also features a 16 page pull-out-and-keep supplement on Beagle 2, supported by the Open University. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 20-Dec-03 12:54:32 |
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| Quotes from the team | [TEAM] |
| Beagle 2's Prof. Colin Pillinger likened the event of Beagle 2 separating from Mars Express as winning the first leg of a two-legged football match (where both legs were being played away - 250m miles away!).
The second leg is due to be played on Christmas Day when Beagle 2 descends through the martian atmosphere to the surface. |
| Steve Burnage of INSYS, responsible for the design of the Spin-Up and Eject Mechanism which released Beagle 2, was "very relieved" that everything went to plan. |
| ESA's Prof David Southwood, on hearing of the successful release, responded by saying "Mother and baby are both doing well!" |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 20-Dec-03 11:36:15 |
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| Wish me good luck as you wave me goodbye | [EVENTS] |
| The Royal Geographical Society hosted a media event yesterday to follow news of Beagle 2 being successfully separated from Mars Express. The event was attended by HRH The Duke of York (in his role
as ambassador for the DTI) and Lord Sainsbury, along with representatives from the Beagle 2 team and numerous reporters and journalists. |
| About 300 people watched in nervous anticipation as news was relayed from ESA's control centre in Germany to let the Beagle 2 team know that the lander had been safely ejected from the Mars Express orbiter. |
| A good luck message was received from Steve Squyres, the Prinicipal Investigator for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit and Opportunity, as well as congratulations from Jim Garvin of NASA's
Mars Program Office. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 20-Dec-03 11:32:08 |
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| Interview with Beagle 2's Principal Investigator | [TEAM] |
| Prof. Colin Pillinger is featured on the ESA website today. Check out the article to see what drives the man responsible for Beagle 2 and how he got involved in space missions. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 18-Dec-03 18:10:09 |
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| Half a million website hits | [INTERNET] |
| Yesterday, the Beagle2.com site received over 500,000 hits on its pages! Check back on the 19th December for news of the Beagle 2 separation from Mars Express. We have also been
recommended as the Which Online website of the week. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 17-Dec-03 19:21:35 |
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| Beagle 2 in the news | [IN PRINT] |
| A number of Sunday newspapers are carrying articles about Beagle 2 today. So far we have seen The Sunday Times (featuring a 'pull-out and keep' Beagle 2 poster), The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 14-Dec-03 12:10:57 |
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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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| Beagle 2 update | [PROJECT] |
| On board Mars Express tests have been run to check that the instruments are functioning correctly. Mars Express has successfully come through its first power test on the whole spacecraft after
the gigantic solar flare on 28 October. Since 17 November the onboard software has been 'frozen' after several updates and the spacecraft is now quietly proceeding to its destination. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 25-Nov-03 11:07:19 |
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| Beagle 2 update | [MEDIA] |
| Yesterday, at the Royal Society in London, members of the media were briefed about progress and the last stages of the journey to Mars. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 12-Nov-03 13:09:25 |
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| A telescopic blur | [TV] |
| The BBC filmed Dave Rowntree and Alex James from Blur, along with Professor Pillinger, for the 10 O'Clock News. |
| They were seen walking across the inside of the Jodrell Bank Telescope which will be seeking out radio signals from Beagle 2 after it lands on the surface of Mars on Christmas Day. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 10-Nov-03 22:36:17 |
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| BNSC launches Beagle 2 learning and teaching resources | [PROJECT] |
| The British National Space Centre Learning Zone has been developed to provide young learners with engaging and fun resources to support their study, as well as provide lesson plans to support teachers across the curriculum. |
| Check out the BNSC website using the link on the right. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 04-Nov-03 12:15:46 |
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| Beagle 2 is live and well | [JOURNEY] |
| Beagle 2 has recently undergone a third series of checkouts on Mars Express and was found to be in good shape. |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 10-Oct-03 20:59:13 |
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| Teach yourself Beagle 2 | [PROJECT] |
| Mars awaits! Study a short course and follow the action... |
| When the Beagle 2 spacecraft lands on Mars on Christmas Day 2003 it will attempt to answer questions that have fascinated humankind for centuries: Is there life on Mars? Did life exist there in the past?
But why Mars? What is it about the red planet that so fascinates scientists and why do they think that life may have arisen there? |
| If you'd like to understand more about Mars and the science behind Beagle 2 and other missions, then a new Open University short course is designed to do just that. S198 - Exploring Mars: Beagle 2 and the
search for life will give you a better understanding of Mars and allow you to follow developments in the European Space Agency's Mars Express/Beagle 2 mission and NASA's two Mars rover missions as these
spacecraft arrive at Mars over the next few months. The course is designed for people with little or no experience of scientific study. All you need is a keen interest in space exploration, Beagle 2 and other
missions, and, of course, the planet Mars! |
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Posted by: Beagle 2 Team | 10-Oct-03 18:43:22 |
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