Beagle 2 -- Media Briefing on latest communication attempts (Forwarded)

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Swindon, U.K.

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Peter Barratt
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Gill Ormrod
Tel: +44 (0)1793-442012
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Julia Maddock
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21 January 2004

Beagle 2 -- Media Briefing on latest communication attempts

On 12 January a period of radio silence was initiated when no attempts were made
to contact Beagle 2. Maintaining radio silence for a period of ten days is
intended to force Beagle 2 into a communication mode that should ensure that the
transmitter is switched on for the majority of the daytime on Mars and thus will
improve the chance of the Mars Express orbiter making contact.

During this ten-day period Mars Express has listened for Beagle 2 but only for
very short periods when Beagle 2 may not have been switched on.

The ten-day radio silence period ends today [22 January], just before a fly-over
by Mars Express. However, it is not intended to hail the Lander immediately.
This cautious approach is based on the fact that the end of the ten-day period
of radio silence cannot be predicted with total confidence. This is because the
absolute accuracy of the timer on Beagle 2 could have been affected by the
temperature on Mars, making the clock run slightly faster or slower than predicted.

It has therefore been decided to choose a pair of opportunities when Mars
Express flies over the Beagle 2 landing site, namely the nights of 24 and 25
January. These two flights cover the widest possible area where Beagle 2 should
be, giving the best chance of calling the Lander and getting a response from the
continuous transmission.

The results from these latest attempts to communicate with Beagle 2 will be
announced by Prof. Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 Lead Scientist and Dr. Mark Sims,
Beagle 2 Mission Manager, on 26 January, at a media briefing to be held at The
Science Media Centre, The Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle
Street, London W1S 4BS, at 1400 GMT.

Journalists wishing to attend should register in advance by emailing
.

For further details on Beagle 2 and Mars Express see the following websites:

http://www.beagle2.com
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Mars
http://www.esa.int/mars

Timeline and Notes for Editors,
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/mars/news/nw_nfe.asp