This picture shows a model of the Beagle 2 in its deployed configuration. The five bluish, circular objects towards the upper left are its solar panels. The robotic arm and PAW are in the lower right corner. Click on image for full size (76K JPEG) Image courtesy European Space Agency (ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched a mission to Mars called "Mars Express" in June of 2003. The Mars Express spacecraft has two parts: an orbiter that will circle Mars for at least one Martian year (687 Earth days), and a lander named "Beagle 2" which is scheduled to touch down on the surface of the Red Planet on December 25, 2003.

Beagle 2 was ejected from the main Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, 2003. The lander has a heat shield to protect it during its fiery entry into the Martian atmosphere. Parachutes will slow its descent and inflatable airbags will cushion its landing. The Beagle 2 lander looks like a large pocket watch (about a meter, or three feet, in diameter) before it is deployed. Once safely nestled on the surface, Beagle 2 will unfold itself. It has several solar panels to supply it with electrical power, and a robotic arm to collect and analyze soil samples.

Beagle 2 will land at a site named "Isidis Planitia" just north of the Martian equator. Isidis Planitia is a flat plain within an ancient impact crater that may once have contained a lake. The main chore of the Beagle 2 is to search for signs of life. Beagle 2 is not a rover, so it will only be able to examine the ground immediately around its landing site. It will scoop up samples of soil with a Position Adjustable Workbench (PAW) at the end of its robotic arm and chemically analyze those samples. Scientists hope Beagle 2 will find compounds that indicate the presence of living organisms. They will also analyze the mineral contents of the soil samples. ESA mission planners hope that Beagle 2 will be able to survive and conduct investigations on Mars for about six months.

Beagle's PAW includes a pair of stereo cameras to take pictures of the lander's surroundings, a microscope, two spectrometers (Mössbauer and X-ray) that will determine the mineral and elemental compositions of rocks, and a light. The PAW also houses a grinder that will remove the weathered surfaces of rocks to allow study of their more pristine interiors and a "mole" that can dig beneath the surface and return soil samples for analysis.

Beagle 2 is named after the ship, the H.M.S. Beagle, which Charles Darwin sailed on shortly before he wrote his famous book about evolution and natural selection titled "On the Origin of Species". Darwin's book had a tremendous impact on our understanding of living creatures and profoundly influenced the science of biology. The scientists who planned the Mars Express mission hope to find signs of life on Mars, which would also be an important breakthrough in biology, so they named their lander after Darwin's ship.

This picture shows what Beagle 2 may look like on Mars. You can see the solar panels (upper left) and the robotic arm (lower right). Click on image for full size (76K JPEG) Image courtesy European Space Agency (ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched a mission to Mars called "Mars Express" in June of 2003. The Mars Express spacecraft has two parts: an orbiter that will circle the Red Planet for at least one Martian year (687 Earth days), and a lander named "Beagle 2" which is scheduled to touch down on the surface of the Mars on December 25, 2003.

Beagle 2 split off from the main Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, 2003. It has a heat shield to keep it from burning up as it enters the atmosphere of Mars. As it gets closer to the ground, parachutes will open to slow it down. Beagle 2 has airbags that will surround and protect it as it bounces to a stop on the surface of Mars. When it stops bouncing, the lander will unfold itself and get to work studying Mars. It has solar panels to supply it with energy during the daytime.

The Beagle 2 lander will try to find life on the surface of Mars. It has a robotic arm that will scoop up soil. It will find out what kinds of chemicals are in the soil. Some types of chemicals are mostly made by living creatures. If Beagle 2 finds those types of chemicals it will have strong evidence that it might have found life. Beagle 2 will land in a flat area called "Isidis Planitia" that is inside an old crater. There may have been a lake inside the crater many years ago.

Beagle 2 is named after a famous ship, the H.M.S. Beagle. A scientist named Charles Darwin sailed on the H.M.S. Beagle in the mid-1800s. Darwin was one of the first scientists to explain how evolution works. The theory of evolution is very important in the science of biology. If scientists find life on Mars with the Beagle 2, that would be a very important discovery for the science of biology, too. That is why the Mars Express mission planners decided to name their lander after Darwin's ship.

This picture shows what Beagle 2 might look like on Mars. You can see the solar panels (upper left) and the robot arm (lower right). Click on image for full size (76K JPEG) Image courtesy European Space Agency (ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched a mission to Mars in June of 2003. The mission is called "Mars Express". The Mars Express spacecraft has two parts. One part will orbit Mars for at least one Martian year. A year on Mars lasts 687 Earth days, so it is longer than a year on Earth. The second part of Mars Express is a lander named "Beagle 2". Beagle 2 is supposed to land on Mars on Christmas day in 2003.

Beagle 2 has parachutes to slow it down as it lands on Mars. It also has some air bags that will blow up around it. The air bags will help give Beagle 2 a soft landing. After Beagle 2 bounces to a stop, it will unfold some solar panels that will give it energy.

The Beagle 2 lander will look for life on the surface of Mars. It has a robot arm that will scoop up dirt. It will check the dirt for chemicals that might have been made by living things. Beagle 2 will land in a flat area called "Isidis Planitia" that is inside an old crater. There may have been a lake inside the crater many years ago.

Beagle 2 is named after a famous ship called the H.M.S. Beagle. A scientist named Charles Darwin sailed on the H.M.S. Beagle about 170 years ago. Darwin helped invent a theory called evolution that explains a lot about how life works. Scientists hope to find out a lot about life if they discover life on Mars. So the Mars Express team named their lander Beagle 2 in honor of Darwin's ship.