Trying To Crack The "Death Planet"

"Mars has been a most daunting destination. Some -- including me -- have called it 'The Death Planet.'"

So says NASA's associate administrator for space science Ed Weiler. Indeed, Mars has claimed its share of probes. Fully two-thirds of the missions sent to Mars have fallen prey to its harsh climate, communication difficulties and the tenuous nature of the Earth-Mars voyage.

And yet...

Mars calls to us. The possibility that the Red Planet once cradled life is impossible to resist. "If you look at the surface of Mars today, it's a desolate place. It's dry. It's cold. It's barren," says Cornell University astronomer Steven Squyres, who heads the science teams for two NASA rovers scheduled to land on Mars beginning next month. "It's not an inviting environment for life, and yet we see these tantalizing clues."

Two NASA rovers, Spirit and Odyssey are slated to land on opposite sides of Mars January 3rd and January 24th. They'll look for water and other signs that could point toward life -- if they make it.

That's a big if. The Martian landscape is littered with landers that stopped working after only brief bursts of information, never transmitted or were destroyed upon landing. They include NASA's Mars Polar Lander and the Soviet-era Mars-3, which died after transmitting for only 20 seconds in 1970. Far out in space, the Japanese Nozomi suffered a power system malfunction, leaving its controllers unable to park it in a Mars orbit. Only three human-built probes have actually succeeded on the surface of Mars: two Viking landers sent by the US in 1976 and the Sojourner rover, which landed in 1997.

The Beagle Is Stranded

The latest news from Mars's newest resident, the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 lander, is no news at all. For a third straight day, controllers in Germany have been unable to raise the Beagle, dimming hopes that it survived its Christmas Day landing.

"I'm pretty sure it's down on the surface of Mars," said ESA Science Director David Southwood in an interview with the BBC. "We have quite a few more chances ... There may be things on Beagle we can fix by sending down the right commands from Mars Express."

The mothership, Mars Express, entered a high elliptical orbit on Christmas. But until it's able to move into a lower polar orbit, it's too far away to communicate with Beagle 2. Although NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has been listening intently for signs of life from Beagle, the mission's chief scientist, Colin Pillinger, said Saturday,"We reckon our best chance of a communication with Mars is to wait until Mars Express is available for use. Mars Express is, after all, our primary route for communication. ... We have to consider it the best way of talking to Beagle 2." Mars Express should begin its search for a signal from Beagle 2 on January 4th.

In spite of the ominous silence from Beagle, Southwood remains optimistic. "We haven't played all our cards, and we'll then be using a system we absolutely know has been tested and we fully understand," he said.

ESA officials speculate the Beagle may have landed off-course, in an area where communications with either the NASA Odyssey orbiter have so far been impossible. They also wonder if the lander's antennae have become either fouled or blocked by natural obstructions.

FMI: www.beagle2.com, www.mars.jpl.nasa.gov