[meteorite-list] Meteoroid Impact A Possible (But Unlikely) Cause of Beagle 2 Failure

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:01 2004
Message-ID: <200401132127.NAA07936_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=302256&PageNum=0

Meteorite is possible cause of Beagle-2 collapse
ITAR-TASS News Agency
January 13, 2004

FRANKFURT-ON-MAINE (Itar-Tass) -- A meteorite might have ruined the Beagle-2
rover of the European Space Agency. The meteorite might have hit the rover
during the nearly seven-months flight to Mars, a leading expert of the
Agency said on Tuesday.

He noted that the Beagle-2 rover had been installed outside the Mars Express
interplanetary station. The rover undocked from the station on December 19,
2003, and was silent during the ballistic descent till December 25.

A minor damage of the rover?s thermal protection by a meteorite could have
catastrophic consequences, the same as it was in the Columbia shuttle disaster,
the expert said. The rover entered the Martian atmosphere, and gases up to
1,200 degrees hot might have penetrated inside the Beagle-2 and ruined it. It
is also possible that the main parachute and cushion gasbags appeared to be
defunct in landing.

The loss of the Beagle-2 rover was a predictable risk, as more than a half
of three dozens of expeditions to Mars failed, the expert said.

He said he was not surprised at the successful landing of the U.S. Spirit
rover on Mars. NASA launched the first probe to Mars forty years ago, and
Beagle-2 was the first attempt of the European Space Agency, the expert noted.
Received on Tue 13 Jan 2004 04:27:23 PM PST