NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or MRO has found one the infamous British built space probe Beagle 2 on Mars which was lost almost a decade ago. The UK space agency lost contact with the Beagle 2 in 2003 when it was scheduled to land on the surface of Mars and the mission was abandoned after no contact could be made. The Beagle 2 was the first Mars bound probe to another planet which rode on top of the European space agency’s Mars Express mission in 2003.
Images from the MRO clearly show a metallic object that resembles the beagle 2 probe which has the lander’s pilot chute still attached and its main parachute nearby. The beagle did successfully land on Mars but unfortunately only went through a partial deployment in which communication was not possible as its RF antenna remained covered.
The discovery of the probe has finally deemed the Beagle 2 mission a partial success in the eyes of the British space agency and pays honor to Colin Pillinger, who was the driving force behind the mission and passed away last year at the age of 70.
