Lost and found – UK’s Beagle-2 Mars Lander, missing since 2003

#Beagle2 #NASA #ESA #MarsExpress #solarcells The mystery of the missing Beagle-2 has now been solved. NASA has found Beagle-2, the Mars Lander of the UK. It was found by a NASA spacecraft that is orbiting the Red Planet. Beagle-2 was presumed to have been lost after it disappeared in the course of a landing attempt during Christmas in 2003.
The lost lander is clearly visible in new photos taken by NASA's sharp-eyed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) - the discovery indicates that Beagle-2 had made a successful landing but did not unfold itself properly on the surface of Mars after landing.
As per available information, Beagle-2 had been sent to Mars on the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission. It had separated from that spacecraft on Dec. 19, 2003 and was expected to land on Mars six days later, on Dec. 25. However, Beagle-2 failed to make contact with the ground and, in the opinion of experts, it was believed to have crashed.
Anyway, it now appears that due to some malfunction, it was unable to open up all its solar arrays and, hence, could not expose its radio antenna – that was the only means of contact with the ground.
From the images transmitted by NASA’s MRO, Beagle 2 appeared to have only a few of its four solar arrays deployed. Its main parachute was visible close by, and its rear cover and drogue parachute looked to still be attached to the lander's main body.
It seems Beagle-2 made use of parachutes to slow its descent, and then deployed airbags to bounce to a stop very similar to the method adopted by NASAs Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. However, in the case of Beagle-2, its design required a full deployment of its four solar arrays to expose its radio antenna, the vital link to Earth which did not happen.
Since the radio antenna was not free, it could not relay data and await instructions from ground. It was stuck and was forever silent on the surface of the Red Planet Mars.