Say, If You Happen To Hear From My Beagle...

European scientists refuse to give up on Beagle 2. But they admit, there's not a lot they can do to spur it into speaking to them until its mothership, Mars Express, enters a low polar orbit January 4th.

"That is the communication line that has been tried and tested," said Gill Ormrod, spokeswoman for the British government's physics and astronomy research agency. "Until they have tried that several times, they will not give up."

Beagle was supposed to have landed on Mars Christmas day. The NASA mapping satellite Mars Odyssey has been listening for signs of electronic life ever since, hoping to catch a snatch of the lander's initial signals. But so far, Odyssey has heard nothing from Beagle.

"One possible explanation that has been raised for the apparent silence is the potential for incompatibility between the systems on board Beagle and those used by Mars Odyssey," said Beagle team member Alan Wells.

If Beagle doesn't bark soon, Wells says the huge Stanford radio-telescope can scan the Martian surface for weak signs of radiation emanating from the 143-pound probe. "This might be considered comparable to looking for signs of Beagle's heartbeat, rather than listening for its bark," he said.

FMI: www.beagle2.com