火星快車號
The "Mars Express" mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) reached Mars in 2003. It carried the "Beagle 2" lander, which was not heard from after being released and was declared lost in February 2004. "Beagle 2" was located in January 2015 by HiRise camera on NASA's "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter" (MRO) having landed safely but failed to fully deploy its solar panels and antenna. In early 2004, the "Mars Express" Planetary Fourier Spectrometer team announced the orbiter had detected methane in the Martian atmosphere, a potential biosignature. ESA announced in June 2006 the discovery of aurorae on Mars by the "Mars Express".