FAREWELL then, Beagle 2. Last week, the European Space Agency effectively ended its Mars lander mission by beginning an inquiry to investigate the loss of the probe.
The lander was released from the Mars Express spacecraft on a trajectory towards the Red Planet on 19 December, and was due to land on Christmas day, but it has not been heard from since. Six weeks of searching by European and American spacecraft in orbit around Mars, as well as by Earth-based radio telescopes, have failed to find a signal. The Beagle 2 team is scouring images of the landing site for signs that might confirm that the spacecraft at least entered the Martian atmosphere.
A number of theories are emerging to explain the loss. The lander鈥檚 airbags, dogged with problems during development, may have failed to inflate during the descent through the Martian atmosphere. The inquiry is also likely to focus on the piecemeal way in which the 拢40 million was raised to pay for the mission. Lack of funds forced the Beagle 2 team to try selling advertising on the spacecraft, for example.
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But without hard evidence from the lander, the ESA inquiry might find it hard to come to a definite conclusion when it reports at the end of March. In which case we may never know why Beagle 2 failed to phone home.