Evidence May Show Errant Lander Nearly Succeeded

The scientist behind Britain's Beagle II mission to Mars said earlier this week images beamed back by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor show the craft may have managed to land on the Red Planet after all.

The images -- which show a large patch on the north crater wall believed to be the primary impact site, as well as marks on the surface that may have come from the probe's cushioning airbags -- tell Colin Pillinger that Beagle II may have very nearly succeeded in its mission to beam back images from Mars in December of 2003.

As was reported in Aero-News, the probe -- which had been ferried to Mars aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter -- lost contact with Earth shortly after it undocked from its mothership.

"There are then other features around the crater consistent with the airbags bouncing around and finally falling down into the middle," Pillinger told Reuters. "Then, when you cut the lace, the airbags fall apart giving three very symmetrical triangles."

Four roughly circular features to the right of the 'airbag' markings could be Beagle's unfolded solar panels, he added.

The discovery gives some vindication to Pillinger, who was stung by a British government report on the mission that said, in part, the Beagle II project failed because it was so underfunded that it was little more than an "amateurish gentleman's agreement."

The probe likely impacted the Martian surface at a higher rate than intended, said Pillinger, due to improper calculations of the density of the Martian atmosphere.

FMI: www.beagle2.com