Beagle 2 Search Ended

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sc...00/3483885.stm

"Ricardo" wrote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sc...00/3483885.stm

Well, congrats to everyone who contributed hardware, software, firmware,
and funds to it.

Pillinger is not the figurehead who deserves all the recognition;
everone who was involved deserves recognition.

I hope we embark on another attempt soon. The Americans failed a lot
too; there's no real shame in this.

Keep going, I say!


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk

"Fleetie" wrote in message
...
"Ricardo" wrote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sc...00/3483885.stm

Well, congrats to everyone who contributed hardware, software, firmware,
and funds to it.

Pillinger is not the figurehead who deserves all the recognition;
everone who was involved deserves recognition.

I hope we embark on another attempt soon. The Americans failed a lot
too; there's no real shame in this.

Keep going, I say!


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967
110890
Manchester, U.K.
http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk

Agreed. But if there is another Beagle, they need to remember that getting
live data during the landing process is vital. Even if the lander crashes,
understanding why is a valuable lesson. Even if it means dropping some of
the science.

Martin

I think the problem may have been the landing site itself. Have you seen
the images of the ellipse Beagle 2 was supposed to come down in? There are
hundreds of objects you really really wouldn't want to hit when you landed.

I think the problem may have been the landing site itself. Have you seen
the images of the ellipse Beagle 2 was supposed to come down in? There are
hundreds of objects you really really wouldn't want to hit when you landed.

That's true of almost all landing ellipse. The beagle 2 landing site
is actually a very safe site. You won't find many ellipses that big
that don't have craters and hills.

As for NASA, they have a pretty good landing record. They are now 5/6.
Successes = Viking 1, Viking 2, Pathfinder, Spirit, and Opportunity.
Failures = Polar Lander

Nasa is planning at least 3 more missions for the remainder of this
decade and probably 2 missions every two years next decade.

I want to see ESA succeed at landing, but there are no missions
currently being worked on, just visions of the far future. They need
to send more missions more often.