Beagle 2 Probe Lands; No Signal Received Yet 364
securitas writes "The BBC reports that Europe's Beagle 2 Mars lander has failed to broadcast its landing confirmation signal. While project leaders are trying to put a brave face on it, the failure is seen as a major setback. The Beagle is out of broadcast range but another contact attempt will be made later today, when they hope a signal will be detected. Another failed Mars mission will solidify Mars' reputation as a spacecraft graveyard. More at icWales and News24."
The Martians did it... (Score:0, Funny)
Tough Christmas (Score:2, Funny)
Not much information is available on the net about more details on the landing. I guess the current Mars satellites don't have enough resolution for them to photograph the expected landing site
It's so weird.. (Score:5, Funny)
nm.
Aliens got it (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, I get it.... (Score:3, Funny)
*rolls eyes*
In other news... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Conspiracy Theroy anyone? (Score:1, Funny)
This is all . . . (Score:3, Funny)
* The Soviet Union used metric units, and all of their probes failed except one. So did the '96 Russian mission.
* The Customary-using U.S.'s Mariner 4, 6, 7, and 9 worked, as did Viking 1 and 2, and Mars Observer; only Mariner 3 of the Mars missions failed.
* The U.S. Federal Government most far-reaching metrification laws went into effect after Observer was launched, and things have been 50-50 since, reflecting the semi-converted state of the U.S.
Obviously, there is a direct correlation between societal use of metric units and failure of Mars missions! If we are to explore the Red Planet, we must de-metrify now!
Re:Conspiracy Theroy anyone? (Score:5, Funny)
They don't know if Beagle 2 landed (Score:4, Funny)
michael [slashdot.org], not to nitpick on the slightly altered headline, but the "Beagle 2 Probe Lands" is little inaccurate. They just don't know if it landed - that's why they are hoping to receve the landing confirmation signal.
From the article:
Well, I suppose that could be considered a landing of sorts. :)
Re:Conspiracy Theroy anyone? (Score:3, Funny)
Well the probe is dead isn't it? It must have been running BSD then...
Re:Conspiracy Theroy anyone? (Score:2, Funny)
So if Mars is only slightly larger than the moon, then I suppose I'm only slightly larger than a 20-pound, 3-foot toddler.
But I see your point.
Re:Premature Assessment, Plus Sloppy Journalism (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh, I get it.... (Score:3, Funny)
No, the problem is that none of the European countries have the only real accurate measurement reference in the world, which is the Library of Congress.
Re:This is all . . . (Score:2, Funny)
Argh.
Re:Oh, I get it.... (Score:3, Funny)
Jeroen
Comment removed (Score:2, Funny)
Beagle, eh? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Conspiracy Theroy anyone? (Score:3, Funny)
The few that were allowed to land were carefully directed to desolate areas, well away from the Martian civilization.
Re:What, the countries of the world working togeth (Score:1, Funny)
Re:They don't know if Beagle 2 landed (Score:5, Funny)
HELLO! Euro Beagle depends on US relay ... (Score:2, Funny)
The one hope is that Jodrell picks up something
Love a good conspiracy.
Re: Theroy (Score:5, Funny)
But "the Roy" [google.com] gets me 66,100, and the first is a great artist with a really lousy web site.
"Art Bell" [google.com] returns only 56,600.
Could take a while to read them all, theroetically [google.com].
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Aliens got it (Score:4, Funny)
Do you have a shipping number we can track?
Re:Battery Required to Unfold Solar Array? (Score:0, Funny)
Some people shouldn't be allowed to watch crappy mars movies from 2000....
Sounds like more shopping opportunities on eBay (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Mars Missions (Score:3, Funny)
Reminds me of the episode of Gilligan's Island where a Mars probe lands on the island, and JPL thinks its on Mars. That same day the castaways were collectiong feathers to make Lovee's dress and also accidently left the fire on under a brew of glue used to repair the shattered probe lens. The glue pot exploded, taking the feathers with it and landing and sticking on the castaways. JPL thought they were looking at Chicken People! When the captain was trying to strangle Gilligan for forgetting to turn off the glue fire, one of the JPL personell remarked, "Look, the big one is trying to get the little one to lay an egg!" Classic.
Obviously The Viking Landings Were Hoaxes (Score:2, Funny)
The Apollo landings were all hoaxes.
Similarly we can explain the fact that supposedly 2 out of 2 Mars landers were successful almost 30 years ago while current Mars landers (which cost about the same in real dollars) are likely to fail:
The Viking landings were hoaxes.
I mean to believe otherwise would cast into doubt that the sociopolitical changes of the last 30 years were a true advance.
This is probably a sign that Leif Erikson didn't actually discover the New World. The supposed chronology is that in 1000AD Leif Erikson discovered the New World (aka "Vinnland") at the same time Iceland converetd to Christianity.
That Roman Catholic authorities would have suppressed knowledge of such a discovery for hundreds of years is no more plausible than that little Viking boats navigated harsh arctic waters to the New World hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus, with his enormous merchant ships, succeeded in crossing the Atlantic and setting foot there [globusz.com].
I mean to believe otherwise would cast into doubt that the sociopolitical changes of the first half of the last millenium were a true advance.
Re:My favorite theory (non-conspiracy) (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Conspiracy Theroy anyone? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:My favorite theory (non-conspiracy) (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Speed & Thermals (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah... and if you start having electronics problems on Venus, you can just grab a cup of solder from that river, over there, and use it to make repairs.....