The British spacecraft Beagle-2 has successfully separated from its mother ship, Mars Express for the final stage of its journey to Mars
The British spacecraft Beagle-2 has successfully separated from its mother ship, Mars Express for the final stage of its journey to Mars.
Mike McKay McKay, flight director at the European Space Agency's Control Center (Esoc) in Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed the separation shortly after 11:10 a.m. GMT (13:10 p.m. Israel time).
The tiny spacecraft will now glide the last three million kilometers to the Red Planet alone in silence, without energy and in hibernation.
The lander is expected to touch down on the Martian soil at Christmas, to look for signs of life - past or present.
Schedule of the separation process (according to Greenwich Mean Time)
07:10 Green light for the separation process
08:31 The separation order was given
10:31 Contact is made again
11:10 The launch was confirmed
14:00 The launch image was published (above)
The creator of the Beagle 2 spacecraft, Colin Pillinger, said: "We succeeded in the operation that was carried out in a place very far from Earth. So far the spacecraft has flown 400 million kilometers and we have a result of one zero in the first stage. The second stage will take place on Christmas morning and I hope to see all the journalists come to witness.
Pillinger was then asked if he was concerned about the impact of expected dust storms on Mars on the landing. "According to the information I have, there is nothing to worry about," Pillinger said. In any case, we won't be happy until she reaches the surface. added
The Beagle 2 lander does not have its own propulsion system at all and the operators rely on the fact that when it disengages it is aimed at the planned site of the landing - a vast plain slightly north of the Martian equator. A Mars Expresser that will attack Mars will provide telemetry data and its stereo cameras will photograph the receding spacecraft.
However, the separation process from the mother spacecraft was only the first in a series of dangerous maneuvers required to bring Beagle 2 to the surface of Mars. Said Steve Burnage, the technology director of the British company Insys that built the Beagle 2 separation mechanism. And this is good news.
After flying alone for six days, the lander will reach the edge of the atmosphere in the early hours of Christmas. It will be directed towards a crater on the Idisis plain and will be slowed down using the heat shield and parachutes, and its fall will be softened using airbags.
Meanwhile, Mars Express will fire its rockets to direct itself into orbit around Mars. Beagle 2 will then begin its life's work - searching for water, ice and important chemicals beneath the surface of Mars.
Landing on Mars - How will the Beagle 2 spacecraft land on Mars. Animation - European Space Agency. Below - an image taken from a camera on board the Mars Express showing Beagle 2 moving away
