Beagle 2

Also known as Mars Express Lander

British Mars lander; failed to deploy properly after landing

Key facts

Mission type: Mars lander
Operator: National Space Centre
Cospar id: 2003-022C
Mission duration: 6 months (planned)
Landing mass: 33.2 kg (73 lb)
Payload mass: 9 kg (20 lb) science instruments
Dimensions: Folded: 1 m diameter, Unfolded: 1.9 m diameter, Height: 12 cm
Power: 60 W
Launch date: 2 June 2003, 07:45 ( 2003-06-02UTC07:45 ) UTC
Rocket: Soyuz-FG / Fregat
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome
Contractor: EADS Astrium

~21 min read

Article

The Beagle 2 is an inoperative British Mars lander that was transported by the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. It was intended to conduct an astrobiology mission that would have looked for evidence of past life on Mars.

The spacecraft was successfully deployed from the Mars Express on 19 December 2003 and was scheduled to land on the surface of Mars on 25 December. ESA, however, received no communication from the lander at its expected landing time on Mars, and declared the mission lost in February 2004 after numerous attempts to contact the spacecraft were made.