Beagle 2 Mars Lander has been Found

UK Space Agency announced today that the missing Beagle 2 Mars Probe has been found.

11 years ago the UK Mars Lander Beagle 2 went missing. Today the UK Space Agency announced that Beagle 2 has been found on the Mars surface. Beagle 2 has partially deployed on the Mars surface. The Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) sequence for Beagle 2 have worked and the lander did successfully touchdown on Mars on Christmas Day 2003.

Beagle 2 was riding to Mars on ESA’s Mars Express mission. Beagle 2 would have delivered science from the surface of the Red Planet. Many UK academic groups and industrial companies contributed to Beagle 2.

Images taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have found clear evidence for the Beagle 2 lander and convincing evidence for key entry and descent components on the surface of Mars within the expected landing area of Isidis Planitia.

Dr David Parker, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “The history of space exploration is marked by both success and failure. This finding makes the case that Beagle 2 was more of a success than we previously knew and undoubtedly an important step in Europe’s continuing exploration of Mars.”

More details on the UK Space Agency site.