Paris, 11 February 2004
Press Release
N 09-2004 

UK and ESA announce Beagle 2 inquiry - Investigation to learn lessons from
Mars Lander

Beagle 2, the British-built element of ESA's Mars Express mission, has
failed to communicate since its first radio contact was missed shortly
after it was due to land on Mars on Christmas Day.  The Beagle 2 
Management Board met in London  on Friday 6 February and, following  an
assessment of the situation, declared Beagle 2 lost.

Today,  the UK Science Minister Lord Sainsbury and the European Space
Agency (ESA) announced that an ESA/UK inquiry would be held into the
failure the Beagle 2 lander.

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

The ESA Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, said : "ESA is a
partnership of its Member States and sharing the lessons learnt from good
and bad experiences is fundamental in cooperation."
 
The Inquiry Board is to be chaired by the ESA Inspector General, Ren
Bonnefoy. The UK deputy chairman will be David Link MBE.

The inquiry will investigate whether it can be established why Beagle 2
may have failed and set out any lessons which can be learnt for future
missions. Such inquiries are routine in  the event of unsuccessful space
missions and this one will help inform future ESA robotic missions, to
Mars and other bodies in the solar system.

The Inquiry Board will be set up under normal ESA procedures by the
Inspector General. Because the inquiry is into a British-built lander, it
will report to Lord Sainsbury as well as to the Director General of ESA.

Its terms of reference are as follows:

1. Technical Issues

 Assess the available data/documentation pertaining to the in-orbit
operations, environment and performance characterisation, and to the
on-ground tests and analyses during development;

 Identify possible issues and shortcomings in the above and in the
approach adopted, which might have contributed to the loss of the mission;

2. Programmatics

 Analyse the programmatic environment (i.e. decision-making processes,
level of funding and resources, management and responsibilities,
interactions between the various entities) throughout the development
phase;

 Identify possible issues and shortcomings which might have contributed
to the loss of the mission.

The Board, made up of people with no direct involvement in the Beagle 2
mission, is expected to begin work shortly and report by the end of March
2004.

The key players in the Beagle 2 mission, including Colin Pillinger, the
Open University, the University of Leicester, the National Space Science
Centre, EADS-Astrium, and BNSC partners have all welcomed the setting up
of the Inquiry Board.

Notes to Editors

The Beagle 2 project to make a lander element of the ESA Mars Express
mission was headed by the Open University, providing the science lead, and
EADS-Astrium, the prime contractor responsible for the main design,
development and management of the lander.

David Link is a former Director of Science and Radar Observation at Matra
Marconi Space, now EADS-UK.

Beagle 2 was designed to look for signs of life on Mars. It 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.

The Beagle 2 lander was funded through a partnership arrangement involving
the Open University, EADS-Astrium, the DTI, the Particle Physics and
Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), the Office of Science and Technology
and ESA. Funding also came from the National Space Science Centre and the
Wellcome Foundation. UK principal investigators for Beagle 2 came from the
Open University (gas analysis package), Leicester University
(environmental sensors and x-ray spectrometer) and Mullard Space Science
Laboratory (imaging systems).

The ESA Mars Express spacecraft, the mother ship, successfully entered
orbit around Mars on Christmas Day and, following a series of orbital
manoeuvres, has been performing excellently as it starts its two-year
global survey of the planet. Among first results announced on 23 January
were unprecedented 3-D high-resolution images of the surface and the
detection of water ice on the South Pole.

For further information, please contact :
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

BNSC Press Enquiries: +44(0)20 7215 0806/0905
(Out of hours: +44(0)20 7215 3234/3505)
Public Enquiries: +44(0)20 7215 5000
Textphone (for people with hearing impairments): +44(0)20 7215 6740
http://www.bnsc.gov.uk