Mars Express has lost communication with Beagle-2 lander: Rosaviakosmos

MOSCOW (AFP) Jun 23, 2003
Communication is down between the onboard computer of the Mars Express orbiter, en route for the red planet, and the Beagle-2 lander, the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos said Monday.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will attempt to reestablish contact with the Beagle-2 at the next planned communication session, set for June 27, said Rosaviakosmos, quoted by the Ria-Novosti news agency.

It did not indicate when the initial communication failure occurred.

Ria-Novosti said the problem lies with the ESA's orbiter.

Mars Express was launched on June 2 and is expected to reach Mars in December. Once there, it is to drop the British-designed Beagle-2 lander, which will collect and analyse soil samples in the hope of finding traces of water.

SPACE.WIRE