Apr 5 2004
From The Space Library
A commission composed of officials from ESA and the British National Space Centre released the results of their investigation into the loss of the Beagle 2 spacecraft, the first European spacecraft designed to explore the surface of Mars. On 19 December 2003, the Beagle 2 had successfully separated from ESA's Mars Express, the spacecraft that had carried the Beagle 2 to its orbit of Mars. However, subsequently, Beagle 2 had failed to send any signals to mission engineers, and its eventual fate remained unknown. Although its report did not identify any single technical issue that had caused the mission loss, the investigating panel did provide 19 recommendations for future missions. These recommendations, implicitly critical of the Beagle 2 mission, suggested that future missions should have adequate funding and adequate testing, and that an agency with appropriate capabilities and resources should manage the missions. (British National Space Centre, “Beagle 2” (report, ESA/UK Commission of Inquiry Swindon, UK, 5 April 2004), http://www. bnsc.gov. uk/assets/channels/resources/press/report.pdf (accessed 31 March 2009), 3-7; ESA, “Beagle 2: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward,” ESA news release 27-2004, 20 May 2004.)
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