Beagle Two, where are you?
Somewhere on the surface of the red planet is a small, round, British-built probe just waiting to send valuable data back to earth. All it needs is a push and it will start working. At least that's what a lot of researchers in the UK would like to believe. What is more likely is that there are hundreds of burned pieces of circuit boards and metal scattered over an area of Mars or a big hole in the planet's surface made when Beagle Two crashed.
Beagle Two was a project to look for life on Mars. It was launched in 2003 and the plan was that it would parachute to the surface on Christmas day the same year. The people in the radio telescope near Cambridge have never heard any signals from it so we may never know what really happened to it. About a year ago, some photographs from another probe (in orbit) showed something that looked a bit like the Beagle. 'Hooray!' said everyone on the project. Unfortunately, last week's news was that the circular pattern was just another crater. Not even a solar panel with 'Made in Britain' could be found.
Mars has been an unlucky planet for space probes. About sixty percent of them have either crashed or broken after they landed. This is a pity because there is so much we can learn about the place. It has an atmosphere, but not one that humans can breathe. It has had water at some point in the past, but how much there is now is still a mystery. It may even have had life. That was one of the things Beagle Two was trying to find out.
The project did not get as much money as its organisers had wanted, but it got a lot of publicity. A famous British modern artist painted the test card for the probe's video signal back to earth. A British pop group wrote the audio test signal. If it had worked, the first musical broadcast and art show from Mars would have been unique advertisements for their work. As it is, I don't think they're saying much about it now.
Still, maybe it landed safely after all. If you watch the trailer for the forthcoming film 'Transformers', you can see the machine working well and exploring the surrounding environment. At least, until something steps on it…
Glossary
a probe sonda
scattered rozproszony
a crater krater
publicity rozgłos
a trailer zwiastun
Automatic equipment is useful in a lot of places. It means you can examine things without using humans, for example, when it is too dangerous. Here are some of the things and places where such equipment is used:
M F D H A P I H O G P I D O S H X P U R C F R D Q
F S E W E R E F O W V O A Q R A Y Z K N O V W Q Y
R P V O Q S C R K D F N P J G C F N F F I D W B J
L Y A I E Z P H S U Z I F J N Y A Z D B Z N L Q J
H N R L R V Q E A U P X J M W V D Q E S I X B I A
K F I Y F J I R W E B B P E W S Q I T Z I D B H D
R T S S R X A N L E O R A Z P F D Q V H F U O U Q
B J Q P S F B I S O M L A R Y V W N L P X P C D B
G B W L L L N C V K B P O S C P H D M S J S O G N
C X Z L D E N Z C V C Q F G N A C I P V B S A Z J
S P V J I A S G D O P Q G Q I M P P C S P U E X C
O H L A E P K T N E E G V D X C K O L G X T Y R F
F J Y U M Y I M V E Q O D X U O A I J V L R Z M N
O B E S O S S C Q Z L F N W N F C L T J I Z T O M
N Y Q N X X Q Z L R J Y J P O W E R S T A T I O N
R H N Q D P X A R H M Q Z W I N E I A I Z M W Q H
G V D Q X Y W M M B Z Y Z M L U G G N D T R Q E Q
Q N O V Q E U V S Y X M Z U N E X P L O D E D Q N
S G E Z I S L R Z S M O Q F V A V C F B N W K J H
Q H G G J M B Y E S P U G V J I Q A Z H N A E J R
X V R C X I Z A P Y E F E O D J C Y Z Y F K L D X
R Z Z G I G W A T S N F Z T C J C X P P Q A L O J
H N V J B D M G A M X T R K V I C A U I T C N G W
K Y E T F F M Q J Y D K G Y P A I V Q Y T J X R D
P B W X O Y N L W E G Z E X I G F U I U J G K H R
KEY
power station
sewer
archaeological site
unexploded bomb
pipeline
oil rig
Did you know?
Although Mars is often called 'the red planet', its surface is mostly grey. The red colour comes from the effect of the sun on its atmosphere.