Andrew Yee
August 23rd 05, 08:44 PM
Media Relations Office
Communications Group
The Open University
Milton Keynes, UK
Media contact:
Louis De La Forêt, +(44) 1908 653256
Academic contact:
Professor Colin Pillinger, +(44) 1908 652119
Tuesday August 9 2005
PR5050
NASA hopes to get a photo-op with missing Beagle 2
Professor Colin Pillinger of The Open University still has hopes that
after a year and a half, the mystery of what happened to the Beagle 2
spacecraft on Mars can be answered.
The best chance to solve that mystery is going into space tomorrow (10
August) when NASA launches the biggest-ever telescopic camera as part of
its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The mission is about examining Mars and studying the history and
distribution of Martian water, the key to life on the red planet, as well
as Martian weather and possible landing sites for future missions. But, it
can also do some detective work as well.
At the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute (PSSRI) where
Beagle 2 was built, Professor Pillinger says answers about what happened
to the spacecraft that disappeared without a trace on Christmas Day 2003,
need to be answered. "If you could see it; if you see whether the
parachute opened or not, it would answer a lot of questions for future
missions."
At NASA there's a man who wants those answers as badly as Professor
Pillinger. The project scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is
Rich Zurek who says he has the biggest magnifying glass possible. "If
there are clues (about Beagle 2), we're going to find them."
In a NASA press release, Zurek is quoted as saying: "We all know how hard
it is to get to Mars. The worst is not quite knowing what happened. We
really felt for our European colleagues because we've been through it
ourselves. We know how painful it is to lose a spacecraft that you've
dedicated so many years to build."
NASA lost its Mars Polar Lander in 1999 and says two-thirds of all
international missions to the red planet have failed.
This mission, armed with a camera that can pick out objects the size of a
small dining table on the surface from its orbit, also has other detective
tricks on board.
"Of course," Zurek adds,"the three-foot wide Beagle 2 still may be too
small for our cameras to see, unless it left a telltale tracks in the
Martian soil."
In that case, another instrument, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging
Spectrometer for Mars could find signs that something crashed into the
surface. "It would be like having a mineral fingerprint pointing to the
spot where Beagle 2 landed," Zurek says.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at the red planet in March 2006 and
starts the search that could solve mysteries of the past and of the
future.
Resources
Website:
http://pssri.open.ac.uk/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro-feat-041205.html
Communications Group
The Open University
Milton Keynes, UK
Media contact:
Louis De La Forêt, +(44) 1908 653256
Academic contact:
Professor Colin Pillinger, +(44) 1908 652119
Tuesday August 9 2005
PR5050
NASA hopes to get a photo-op with missing Beagle 2
Professor Colin Pillinger of The Open University still has hopes that
after a year and a half, the mystery of what happened to the Beagle 2
spacecraft on Mars can be answered.
The best chance to solve that mystery is going into space tomorrow (10
August) when NASA launches the biggest-ever telescopic camera as part of
its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The mission is about examining Mars and studying the history and
distribution of Martian water, the key to life on the red planet, as well
as Martian weather and possible landing sites for future missions. But, it
can also do some detective work as well.
At the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute (PSSRI) where
Beagle 2 was built, Professor Pillinger says answers about what happened
to the spacecraft that disappeared without a trace on Christmas Day 2003,
need to be answered. "If you could see it; if you see whether the
parachute opened or not, it would answer a lot of questions for future
missions."
At NASA there's a man who wants those answers as badly as Professor
Pillinger. The project scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is
Rich Zurek who says he has the biggest magnifying glass possible. "If
there are clues (about Beagle 2), we're going to find them."
In a NASA press release, Zurek is quoted as saying: "We all know how hard
it is to get to Mars. The worst is not quite knowing what happened. We
really felt for our European colleagues because we've been through it
ourselves. We know how painful it is to lose a spacecraft that you've
dedicated so many years to build."
NASA lost its Mars Polar Lander in 1999 and says two-thirds of all
international missions to the red planet have failed.
This mission, armed with a camera that can pick out objects the size of a
small dining table on the surface from its orbit, also has other detective
tricks on board.
"Of course," Zurek adds,"the three-foot wide Beagle 2 still may be too
small for our cameras to see, unless it left a telltale tracks in the
Martian soil."
In that case, another instrument, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging
Spectrometer for Mars could find signs that something crashed into the
surface. "It would be like having a mineral fingerprint pointing to the
spot where Beagle 2 landed," Zurek says.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at the red planet in March 2006 and
starts the search that could solve mysteries of the past and of the
future.
Resources
Website:
http://pssri.open.ac.uk/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro-feat-041205.html