January 12, 2004
Mars Express
Silent in Effort to Get European Lander to Respond
With still nothing heard from the Beagle
2 Mars rover, the European Space Agency hopes that it survived
its trip and that not sending signals to it from its orbiter
will force it into a communication mode that is more likely to
make contact.
Artist's Rendition of Mars
Express Orbiter
Click
for larger image
All Rights Reserved Beagle 2 - www.beagle2.com
No signal was received from Beagle 2 this morning when ESA's
Mars Express orbiter passed over the landing site.
Prof. Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 Lead Scientist,
was present at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt,
Germany, when the data came through. Although the news was disappointing,
Pillinger said he was encouraged by the continued support and
determination of the team at ESA's mission control centre to
continue the search.
The next phase will be to initiate a period
of radio silence where no communication attempts will be made
with Beagle 2 until Jan. 22. If the lander still exists and was
receiving the sigals but just not getting through to the orbiter,
this radio silence should force Beagle 2 into communication search
mode 2. When operating under this setting, the probe was programmed
to automatically transmit a signal throughout the Martian day.
Its standard protocol is to save power and only attempt to communicate
when it thinks the orbiting Mars Express is overhead. In search
mode 2, power would be rapidly drained throughout the day but
still be conserved during the night.
The rover has not made contact since Dec.
25, when it entered Mars' atmosphere, and is increasingly feared
lost.
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