Beagle 2 stays silent

Beagle 2's mothership Mars Express called out to its lost pup today - but heard nothing back.

Hopes of finding the missing British probe, which should have landed on Mars on Christmas Day, are now fading fast.

Scientists saw a link with Mars Express, which carried Beagle 2 on its 250 million mile journey to the Red Planet, as their best chance of making contact.

The orbiter made its first fly-past over the probe's landing site at Isidis Planitia near the Martian equator at about 12.15pm today.

Controllers hoped to hear an electronic "yelp" from Beagle, but the long silence continued.

A number of further attempts to establish contact using Mars Express are planned. However, today's failure is a major setback for the Beagle team.

The lander should now have been in an emergency mode in which its receiver is switched on for 59 minutes out of every hour during the day.

Scientists gathered at the Open University's offices in Camden, north London, heard the news shortly after 3pm via a video link with the Mars Express control centre.

The European Space Agency's head of science, Professor David Southwood, made an emotional announcement from Darmstadt in Germany.

He said: "I have, I'm afraid, to make a sad announcement that today, when we were in conditions we thought were very good for getting direct communication
between the Mars Express mothership and Beagle 2, the baby, that we didn't get any content of a signal, nor indeed a signal from the surface of Mars, from Beagle 2.

"This is not the end of the story. We have more shots to play. But I have to say this is a setback and it makes me feel really very sad."

He said it was important to understand the great achievements made by the Beagle 2 team so far.

He added: "One of the bittersweet aspects of this announcement is that the mothership, Mars Express, is functioning absolutely beautifully, and this makes the whole experience a very bittersweet experience."