After its release from the Mars Express, Beagle 2 is scheduled to touchdown in late December 2003. Carrying the first microscope to Mars, along with other achievements, may be a short-lived coup for the Beagle 2, however. Each will cart along, among other instruments, a microscopic imager. The lander's robotic arm will be outfitted with several instruments, including the microscope. A small grinder on the arm will clean dust and other Martian weathering debris from rock surfaces, with the microscope then moving into position for closeup looks.
Tiny lamps can bathe the area under microscopic inspection in various colors.
Also, an ultraviolet lamp permits a look for fluorescence in Martian rocks for the first time ever, Smith said. That fluorescence could be a signpost for biological organisms, he added. Just the beginning Fresh from success in setting up a simulated Mars outpost on Devon Island this summer in the Canadian Arctic, Mars Society President Robert Zubrin said the advocacy group also plans to move forward rapidly to raise funds for a suite of Mars-like habitats on Earth. Desert sites in the United States, as well as spots in Australia and Iceland, are under review, Zubrin said. Yet another Mars Society project being pursued is constructing a pressurized roving vehicle that would be a prototype for a later vehicle that could carry astronauts around on the planet's surface, Zubrin said.