Beagle 2 facts for kids
Replica of the Beagle 2 at the Science Museum, London
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| Mission type | Mars lander |
|---|---|
| Operator | National Space Centre |
| Mission duration | 6 months (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Landing mass | 33.2 kg (73 lb) |
| Payload mass | 9 kg (20 lb) science instruments |
| Dimensions | Folded: 1 m diameter Unfolded: 1.9 m diameter Height: 12 cm |
| Power | 60 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2 June 2003, 07:45 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-FG / Fregat |
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome |
| Contractor | EADS Astrium |
| Mars lander | |
| Landing date | 25 December 2003, 02:45 UTC |
| Landing site | Isidis Planitia, Mars 11°31′35″N 90°25′46″E / 11.5265°N 90.4295°E |
The Beagle 2 was a British Mars lander that was carried to Mars by the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. It was an astrobiology mission that was designed to look for past life on the shallow surface of Mars.
The Beagle 2 was conceived by a group of British academics. It was led by Professor Colin Pillinger of the Open University.
The spacecraft successfully arrived in orbit round Mars on 19 December 2003. It was going to land on the surface of Mars on 25 December. There was no contact at the expected time of landing. ESA declared that the mission was lost in February 2004, after several attempts to contact the spacecraft were unsuccessful.
Beagle 2's fate remained a mystery until January 2015. Then it was found on the surface of Mars by a series of images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera. The images suggest that two of the spacecraft's four solar panels failed to deploy, blocking the spacecraft's communications antenna.
The Beagle 2 was named after HMS Beagle, the ship used by Charles Darwin.
Images for kids
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Model of the Beagle 2 at the Spaceport museum in Seacombe, Merseyside, depicting the spacecraft in a state similar to the way it was found in 2015
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Beagle 2 launched with Mars Express and was released near Mars a few days prior to its landing, after a multi-month long journey from Earth. Mars Express entered Mars orbit and has remained active ever since (as of 29 September 2019)
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Visual Monitoring Camera image of Beagle 2 as it heads off to Mars
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Beagle 2's landing site was a 174 by 106 km (108 by 66 mi) landing ellipse within Isidis Planitia basin.
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David Southwood, pictured in 2012. At the time of the Beagle 2 landing, he was Director of Science and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency.
See also
In Spanish: Beagle 2 para niños
