No signal detected from Mars probe

The latest attempt to detect a signal from Britain’s Mars probe Beagle 2 has failed, scientists said today.

The powerful 250ft Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire failed for a second time to detect a faint signal from the craft, which should have landed on the “Red Planet” early on Christmas Day.

The fruitless communication session began at around 6.15pm last night and continued until around midnight.

It followed a second unsuccessful attempt by Nasa spacecraft Mars Odyssey to pick up Beagle 2’s call sign when it was in range of the targeted landing site between 5.53pm and 6.33pm yesterday.

The next possible contact was due at around 6.15am today when Odyssey was in range again.

Earlier, Beagle 2’s chief scientist Professor Colin Pillinger said he had not given up hope of finding the missing craft.

Speaking at a news conference at the Open University’s London office he said: “If we can contact it we can pull this thing around.

“But it’s like sending somebody a love letter, and you know they got it and you’re waiting for a response.”

Beagle 2, on a mission to search for signs of life on Mars, should have parachuted down to the planet’s surface at 2.54am on Christmas Day.

It was supposed to send out a call sign in the form of a nine note “tune” composed by members of the pop group Blur.

The signal should have been relayed to Earth by Mars Odyssey, which has been orbiting the planet since 2001, but never arrived.

Beagle 2’s “mothership”, Mars Express, will not be ready to attempt any communication with the probe until January 4.

Scientists believe the craft may be experiencing communication problems or could have crashed or suffered a systems failure.

Prof Pillinger said: “I don’t put probabilities on anything. We’re going to keep trying.

“This is not a failure yet, and even if it is a failure, it’s not the end of the British space programme.”

He hinted that if Beagle 2 was written-off he might be willing to start the whole project again.

“I don’t for an instant think there wouldn’t be volunteers willing to help,” he said.

Jodrell Bank has been assisted by a a radio telescope at Westerbork in Holland but its search has been hampered by interference. Stanford University in California will begin scanning the airwaves using its radio telescopic equipment tonight.

Radio telescopes should be able to detect a weak signal containing no data and no stronger than that from a mobile phone.

If radio telescopes on Earth can pick up the probe’s signal, it would give mission controllers a better idea of its location.

Mars Odyssey’s antenna could then be directed more accurately towards Beagle 2 as the spacecraft flies over the landing site.

The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank has recently been fitted with a highly sensitive receiver.

Scientists are confident it has the ability to detect the Beagle 2’s Morse code-like carrier signal, which is transmitted in recognisable 10 second bursts once a minute.

At present the transmitter would only be switched on at certain times to conserve energy. In the emergency “auto-transmit” mode the signal is broadcast continuously during the daylight hours.

The signal would take nine minutes to travel the 98 million miles to Earth.

Beagle 2, weighing less than 70kg and no bigger than a motorbike wheel, was set to be the first European spacecraft to land on another planet.

Its 180-day mission is to test soil, rock and air samples for signs of past or present life on Mars.