Probe to be held into Beagle 2's disappearance

An inquiry is to be held over the loss of the British-led Beagle 2 lander which went missing following its descent to the Martian surface on Christmas Day.

Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury, and the European Space Agency (ESA) today announced that a probe would be held to help identify the potential reasons surrounding the inability to communicate with the vehicle.

The lander, part of ESA's Mars Express mission, has not made contact since it separated from the mother ship in an attempt to land on the Red Planet.

Beagle 2, which was designed to look for signs of life on Mars, was to parachute down to the surface of the planet and collect soil samples – which would have been analysed for signs of past and present biological activity. The lander was also packed with a suite of instruments to take pictures, acquire geological information and study the weather, including temperature, pressure and wind.

Lord Sainsbury said: "I believe such an inquiry will be very useful. The reasons identified by the Commission of Inquiry will allow the experience gained from Beagle 2 to be used for the benefit of future European planetary exploration missions."

The inquiry board will be set up under normal ESA procedures by the Inspector General of ESA, Rene Bonnefoy, and the UK deputy chair will be David Link. As the inquiry is considering a British-built lander, it will report to Lord Sainsbury as well as the Director General of ESA.

The board membership will have had no direct involvement in the Beagle 2 mission. The inquiry is expected to begin work shortly and produce its report by the end of March 2004.

The inquiry will investigate whether it can be established why Beagle 2 may have failed to respond to communication commands and to identify any lessons which can be applied to future missions. Such inquiries are routine in the event of unsuccessful space missions, the government said.

The Beagle 2 project was led by the Open University, providing the science lead, and EADS-Astrium, the prime industrial contractor responsible for the main design, development and management of the lander.

(gmcg)