Beagle 2 separates from mother ship
Press Association
Friday December 19, 2003
The Mars Express orbits the planet, carrying the Beagle 2 probe (computer generated image)
The Beagle 2 spacecraft has begun its final journey towards Mars today after scientists confirmed it had successfully separated from its mother ship.
Today's ejection manoeuvre from the Mars Express mother ship is critical to plans for the British-built probe to land on Mars's surface on Christmas Day.
Scientists in Britain received initial confirmation that the separation had been successful at 10.40am in a live link from the European Space Operation Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
The mission is the first to try to determine if there is life on Mars since the United States sent the Viking I landing craft to Mars' surface in 1976.
'It's not looking for little green men, but it is looking for matter that might provide evidence of life. It is looking for clues,' said David Southwood, the European Space Agency's director of Science.
During the launch, the spacecraft pushes the probe away, setting it spinning to maintain stability as it heads toward Mars.
At the same time the probe is to reach the surface, mission engineers plan to position the Mars Express craft to fire its main engine for about 30 minutes, sending it into Martian orbit, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the surface of the planet.
Once there, the Express will use radar to penetrate the surface looking for layers of water or ice. 'This if the first time we will be looking under the surface of Mars using radar from Mars Express,' Mr Southwood said.
Earlier today scientists warned that the Mars Express mission could be doomed if the Beagle launch failed. Project manager Rudolf Schmidt said: 'If we get the timing wrong, the spacecraft could burn up in the atmosphere or miss Mars altogether. We just get one single chance.'
Previous attempts have failed to answer the question of whether there was life on Mars. Of the 34 unmanned American, Soviet and Russian missions to Mars since 1960, two-thirds have ended in failure.
In 1976, twin US Viking landers searched for life but sent back inconclusive results. The Mars Explorer, which cost about US5 million, is an attempt to demonstrate that Europe can have an effective and relatively inexpensive space exploration program.
Launched from a Russian rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 2, Mars Express has weathered solar eruptions that bombarded it with high-energy particles, temporarily disrupting its computers, as well as an unexpected drop in electrical power.
The Beagle 2 - named for the ship that carried naturalist Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery in the 1830s - will use a robotic arm to gather and sample rocks for evidence of organic matter and water, while Mars Express orbits overhead.
During its working life - planned for one Martian year, or 687 Earth days - engineers hope Mars Express will send back detailed overhead pictures of the planet's surface and use a powerful radar to scan for underground water.
Scientists think Mars, which still has frozen water in its ice caps, might have once had liquid water and appropriate conditions for life but lost it billions of years ago. It is thought water may also still exist as underground ice.
Earlier this month, Japan was forced to abandon its troubled mission to Mars, to determine whether the planet has a magnetic field, when officials failed in their attempts to position their Nozomi probe on course to orbit the planet.
US officials are discussing a new course of space exploration, and debate has focused on whether the United States should set its sights on returning to the moon or landing on Mars.
