UK Parliament blames funding for Beagle 2 failure
Posted: Tue, Nov 2, 2004, 7:49 PM ET (0049 GMT)
A committee of the British House of Commons concluded that a lack of sufficient funding in critical phases of the Beagle 2 mission make it likely that the Mars lander would fail. The report, released by the Science and Technology Committee on Tuesday, found that while the British government was "admirably enthusiastic" about the project, it was unable to provide the financial backing needed to permit the mission to enter its development and testing phases on a timely basis. Beagle 2, which flew to Mars on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, landed on the surface on Christmas Say 2003 but failed to establish communications with Earth. The decision to develop Beagle 2 separately from Mars Express was criticized by the committee and that oversight of Beagle 2 by the UK government and ESA was "lacking".
A committee of the British House of Commons concluded that a lack of sufficient funding in critical phases of the Beagle 2 mission make it likely that the Mars lander would fail. The report, released by the Science and Technology Committee on Tuesday, found that while the British government was "admirably enthusiastic" about the project, it was unable to provide the financial backing needed to permit the mission to enter its development and testing phases on a timely basis. Beagle 2, which flew to Mars on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, landed on the surface on Christmas Say 2003 but failed to establish communications with Earth. The decision to develop Beagle 2 separately from Mars Express was criticized by the committee and that oversight of Beagle 2 by the UK government and ESA was "lacking".
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Blue Origin describes plans for increased New Glenn launch rates
Posted: Sat, Oct 17 11:41 AM ET (1541 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, October 20
A Mars-velous decade: Celebrating ten years of TGO
ESA — 5:27 am ET (0927 GMT) How US Satellites Became Crucial to Ukraine’s Defense
Bloomberg News — 5:26 am ET (0926 GMT) How to stop Putin’s missiles before they even leave Russia
Washington Post — 5:25 am ET (0925 GMT) Fire at Starlink Center in Lithuania Was Sabotage, Officials Say
New York Times — 5:25 am ET (0925 GMT) Space Forces Central Poised for ‘Fivefold’ Growth in Coming Years
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 5:22 am ET (0922 GMT) |
