Missing UK lander found on Mars after 12 years

After hitching a ride to Mars on the European Space Agency's Mars Express Mission, the U.K.'s Beagle 2 Mars lander descended toward the surface of the red planet on December 25, 2003 and was never heard from again.

The Beagle 2 was considered lost for good -- until now. Images from the HiRISE camera aboard the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have identified the lander, which apparently was able to achieve touchdown and partially deploy its solar arrays.

"I am delighted that Beagle 2 has finally been found on Mars," said Mark Sims of the University of Leicester, U.K., who was Beagle 2's mission manager. "Every Christmas Day since 2003 I have wondered what happened to Beagle 2. My Christmas Day in 2003 alongside many others who worked on Beagle 2 was ruined by the disappointment of not receiving data from the surface of Mars. To be frank I had all but given up hope of ever knowing what happened to Beagle 2. The images show that we came so close to achieving the goal of science on Mars."

After a former member of the European Space Agency's Mars Express operations team found what looked to be remnants of Beagle 2 in pictures taken within the expected landing area of Isidis Planitia, another group of Beagle, HiRISE and NASA researchers reviewed the images and confirmed that, indeed, the pieces were the "kitchen table sized lander" that went missing a dozen years ago.

"We've been looking for all the past landers with HiRISE, this is the first time we found one that didn't send a signal after it landed," said Alfred McEwen, principal investigator of the HiRISE mission and professor in the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab.

MRO project scientist Richard Zurek said, "I can imagine the sense of closure that the Beagle 2 team must feel." Perhaps he'll feel that way soon, too. He worked on NASA's Mars Polar Lander, which was lost in December of 1999. It is still missing.