Missions in Space - Beagle 2

The Beagle 2 project was a British led project to land a space probe on Mars as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express mission. Beagle 2 launched on 2 June 2003 and seperated from Mars Express on 19 December 2003. Sadly, however, contact was lost during the final stages of the descent and the craft was never heard from again, despite repeated attempts to get in touch.

Beagle 2 was designed to land on the surface of the red planet with the aim of looking for life on Mars and see how the mountains and rocks were formed. It is thought that the parachute and inflatable cocoon (designed to reduce the impact on landing) failed to operate properly, and this resulted in the craft crashing on the Martian surface and suffering fatal damage.

The Mars Express spacecraft, on which Beagle 2 hitched a ride, continues to orbit and carry out its scientific investigations from above the planet.

If you would like to know more about this mission click here .