Beagle2 found

[djnattyd]

New high resolution imagery has managed to locate the Beagle2 lander on the surface of Mars and all signs are pointing towards it being intact.

Anyone want to guess what the chances of reestablishing contact are?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886

[PlonioFludrasco]

The Beagle 2 lander, that was declared lost by ESA on 2003 when it failed to communicate from the surface of Mars, may have been spotted by the MRO.

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/lost-2003-mars-lander-found-by-mars-reconnaissance-orbiter

[Sir_Tramalot]

It has been confirmed on their website

[KerBlam]

Ha! They got that close!

I always thought that solar array design looked flimsy... petals... pffft.

[djnattyd]

Ha! They got that close!

I always thought that solar array design looked flimsy... petals... pffft.

It's a shame the arrays are what caused it to fail, I think that's more disheartening than it just crashing.

To land within 5KM of the intended target is an achievement in and of itself.

[Cirocco]

ooooooooh that sucks. Hitting the bullseye like that only to fall to what is probably just bad luck.

as far as re-establishing contact goes: the article says that nothing can be done to bring the probe bck to life, so I wouldn't get my hopes up

[djnattyd]

as far as re-establishing contact goes: the article says that nothing can be done to bring the probe bck to life, so I wouldn't get my hopes up

Yeah, just seen that. When i got the breaking news alert it originally said "More information to follow" and had nothing about contact being impossible.

[Cirocco]

mind you, it's REALLY got to suck knowing that the solution to the problem would possibly (probably?) be trivial if only you could walk up to it and metaphorically give it a kick. But that's kinda hard when your probe is about 500 million kilometers away.

[djnattyd]

I remember watching the news on landing day and the faces of the team when they realised they'd lost contact... You can practically hear the "Well this was a waste of time. I could be at home having Christmas dinner."

[Tommygun]

I think I would have preferred a small crater than coming so close.

I always thought that the petals seemed needlessly over complicated.

Pathfinder's pyramid layout looked less failure prone to me, but the shape they chose may have been limited to what the carrier would allow.

[Camacha]

mind you, it's REALLY got to suck knowing that the solution to the problem would possibly (probably?) be trivial if only you could walk up to it and metaphorically give it a kick. But that's kinda hard when your probe is about 500 million kilometers away.

You described pretty decently why doing Mars missions (or most space missions) is so incredibly hard. Something you can easily fix on Earth is a mission ending problem in space.

[djnattyd]

All we need now is for NASA to announce that Spirit has come back to life.

I demand that the first manned mission to Mars fixes Beagle2 and allows it to complete its mission.

[RainDreamer]

Do we have any other asset on Mars that can possibly come over and do that metaphorical (possibly literal?) kick to the thing? Like the rover?

[djnattyd]

Do we have any other asset on Mars that can possibly come over and do that metaphorical (possibly literal?) kick to the thing? Like the rover?

Opportunity and Curiosity are too far away to make the deviation from their own missions worth it.

[Tommygun]

All we need now is for NASA to announce that Spirit has come back to life.

I demand that the first manned mission to Mars fixes Beagle2 and allows it to complete its mission.

NASA can send Mark Watney to fix it.

Do we have any other asset on Mars that can possibly come over and do that metaphorical (possibly literal?) kick to the thing? Like the rover?

The rechargeable batteries wear out and it's been over 11 years, I don't think it would ever hold a charge again and also 11 cold winters can possibly crack the electronic on that thing.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Tommygun

[djnattyd]

NASA can send Mark Watney to fix it.

Could be worse, they could send Val Kilmer or Gary Sinise...

[Camacha]

The rechargeable batteries wear out and it's been over 11 years, I don't think it would ever hold a charge again and also 11 cold winters can possibly crack the electronic on that thing.

I am pretty sure the batteries are not the defining issue

[Tommygun]

I am pretty sure the batteries are not the defining issue

Yes, just saying even if there was a rover near by with an arm like probe.

[Camacha]

Yes, just saying even if there was a rover near by with an arm like probe.

What I meant is that the batteries are not the primary mode of failure. Everything gets busted up by the harsh conditions on Mars, the batteries are only a minor issue.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Camacha

[Nibb31]

Yes, just saying even if there was a rover near by with an arm like probe.

A planet is a big place and there are only two rovers. Plus, probes tend to explore very different areas instead of landing close to each other. It's like asking if there is someone in China who can come repair you dishwasher in Europe.

[Kryten]

And even that's assuming there wasn't a major systems failure, when we've no evidence of that. Given the development issues with the airbags in particular, there's a good chance we're looking at the result of a bounce or a too-hard initial impact.

[Camacha]

And even that's assuming there wasn't a major systems failure, when we've no evidence of that. Given the development issues with the airbags in particular, there's a good chance we're looking at the result of a bounce or a too-hard initial impact.

There appears to be a petal missing, which suggest a rough encounter at landing or afterwards.

[djnattyd]

There appears to be a petal missing, which suggest a rough encounter at landing or afterwards.

The missing petal isn't actually missing, the lander stopped operating during its deployment stage which resulted in the petal with the RF antenna on remaining in the closed position.

[SuperFastJellyfish]

The missing petal isn't actually missing, the lander stopped operating during its deployment stage which resulted in the petal with the RF antenna on remaining in the closed position.

While this is probably true, this is just pure speculation.

[battlefieldaces]

There is a chance they can regain control of the thing. On very sunny days there might be enough power for communications. Also if you think there's no way to get control, think about what Rosseta's been through until it reached its target.