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
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, September 5
Gilat Announces $100 Million Five-Year Convertible Notes at 60% Conversion Premium
Gilat Satellite Networks — 11:15 am ET (1515 GMT) 6U-Class Earth Observation Satellite ONGLAISAT, Co-Developed by ArkEdge Space, Wins Small Satellite Mission of the Year Award –First mission involving a Japanese company and university to receive the award–
ArkEdge Space — 11:15 am ET (1515 GMT) Datacentrex Invests $30 Million in Eagle LNG Partners, a Supplier of Fuel for the U.S. Space Launch Industry
Datacentrex — 11:14 am ET (1514 GMT) HawkEye 360 Confirms Early Lock-up Release for September 2nd; Preliminary Inclusion in Russell 2000
HawkEye 360 — 11:13 am ET (1513 GMT) America’s AI Lead Won’t Win The Next Space Race
Forbes.com — 11:11 am ET (1511 GMT) |
