Beagle 3 looks to American ride

from the BBC
Colin Pillinger has asked the US space agency to put a Beagle "pod" on its Mars Science Laboratory probe for 2009.

Professor Pillinger says he wants to send a second Beagle instrument package to the Red Planet as soon as possible.

"We wrote to Nasa last week, asking them if they'd like to put a Beagle pod on MSL and drop it off in an interesting place," he said.

The Mars Science Laboratory is designed to pave the way for a future mission that would return rocks to Earth.

Rest of Story

I hope the Americans will be kind enough to allow a Beagle to hitch a ride on the MSL after the failure of the Beagle 2 probe.

So he has plans for sending another "sandwhich"/"clam" to there.

If you want to know why I call it that name look this and think how those solar panels and robotic arm are inside shell.

Originally posted by E_T
So he has plans for sending another "sandwhich"/"clam" to there.

Mr Pillinger is a classic example of the British Boffin. While desperately waiting to hear from Beagle 2, he remained as enthusiastic and forward looking as ever...

He probably prefers the lab to the pub, his own company to that of others. He thinks only Deep Thoughts about Life and Science, and he doesn't bother with mundane matters like money, or haircuts.

Boffins are inventive, even when it comes to transportation

news.bbc.co.uk...

[edit on 26/7/04 by Hyperen]

Are there any sound theories as to why the first one failed?

Besides hearing about UFO's and the sort, I have not heard too much about it except that it crashed.

And I do hope that NASA doe'snt give them any hassle over launching it. I think its nice we still live in a world where theres a few other nations that are worth working with, without having to worry (I hope) about them backstabbing us and reselling the technology we share to our enemies.

Personally, I would rather we work with individual nations than a beurocratic entity like the ESA.

The last I heard, they thought it went down into a deep crater and couldn't 'open'.

Beagle 2 Inquiry Q&A - There are pictures of what may have happened if you go half way down the page

Recommendations of the Inquiry into the failure