[meteorite-list] Mars Rocks Beagle Team

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:56 2004
Message-ID: <200309170244.TAA01185_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3113316.stm

Mars rocks Beagle team
By Helen Briggs
BBC News
September 16, 2003

The meteorite that revived hopes of finding life on Mars is to be analysed by
scientists working on the British-led Beagle 2 mission.

Claims in 1996 that experts at the US space agency (Nasa) had found fossilised
bugs inside a chunk of Mars rock remain highly contested.

But the revelations helped inspire the current fleet of space craft heading to
the Red Planet to search for water.

The meteorite is to be re-examined to help calibrate the "eyes" of Beagle 2 -
the stereo camera system the Mars lander will use to view the strip of rock
and soil where it bounces to a halt.

Geological samples from Earth and the Moon will also be tested to build up a
database of the sorts of minerals the robotic probe might encounter on the
Red Planet.

These experiments must be completed before Beagle is delivered to Mars in late
December by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.

Call sign

University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) leads
the stereo camera team on Beagle 2.

"The reason for having two cameras is to get stereo images of the landing site,"
says lead scientist Dr Andrew Coates of MSSL.

"The operations for the whole mission depend on that. These things have got to
work."

The stereo cameras mounted on Beagle's robotic arm will be the first of its
"senses" to be deployed.

Shortly after touchdown, the probe's hard casing will spring open like a clam
shell, exposing its inner workings and scientific instruments.

Solar panels will unfurl to capture sunlight to power the probe as its battery
pack fades.

Then, earthlings should hear the craft's signature call sign - a track composed
by the British rock band Blur - as a signal that all is well.

Isidis Planitia

The first image of Mars will be a wide-angle picture taken minutes after landing
using a pop-up mirror on one of the cameras.

The data will be sent back to Earth via Nasa's Mars Odyssey orbiter, which
should appear overhead a few hours later.

Only then will scientists know whether Beagle has survived the landing and
what shape it is in.

The planned destination is a flattish basin - Isidis Planitia - in the northern
hemisphere of Mars.

The target site measures 144 kilometres x 106 km so it is impossible to tell
exactly where it will land.

The stereo camera system will scan the Martian terrain to capture the data needed
to create a digital elevation model of the terrain.

Hallmarks of life

As well as sending back images of the landing site, 24 geological filters in the
cameras will look at the spectrum of the sunlight reflected from Martian rocks to
see what minerals are in them.

"'We plan to push the science we can do with the cameras beyond the digital
elevation models, to study geology, water in the atmosphere and dust," says
Andrew Coates.

This information will be used in conjunction with data from other
instruments on Beagle 2 to choose the sites where precious rock samples will be
collected.

Fragments of Martian rock will be delivered to Beagle's mass spectrometer
(the Gas Analysis Package, or Gap) to analyse samples for chemical signatures
of biological processes.

The camera team says scientists are still developing their ideas to some extent
about the chemical hallmarks of life.

"Certain minerals like carbonates are quite often found in association with organic
molecules, possibly with life, so they'd be a good type of mineral to look for,"
says project manager Dr Andrew Griffiths. "Also iron minerals, as iron sulphides are
often laid down by bacteria on Earth."

Space train

Mars Express and Beagle 2 are now more than halfway through their cruise to the
Red Planet.

On 20 December, Mars Express will release Beagle 2 on to a collision path with
the planet.

Nothing will be heard from the lander for five days but on Christmas Day, if all goes
well, scientists should get a signal confirming that it has touched down safely.

The European probe is currently at the head of a crop of space craft heading to
Mars.

Just behind are the US space agency's Spirit and Opportunity surface rovers, and
the Japanese Nozomi satellite that will go into orbit around Mars.
Received on Tue 16 Sep 2003 10:44:07 PM PDT