- European scientists are examining an image of the Beagle
2 Mars lander, taken moments after it was spun off from its mother ship,
that also shows an unidentified object.
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- The mysterious blot on the photograph is being scrutinised
as one of several potential reasons for the failure of the mission
Europe's first attempt to land a probe on the Red Planet.
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- Mission controllers told a London meeting that they were
also considering the possibility that Beagle 2 simply crashed onto the
surface of Mars because the atmosphere on the planet was less dense than
expected.
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- Scientists said they are examining photographs of the
landing site that show four bright spots, dubbed the "string of pearls,"
that might be Beagle 2's remains.
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- Beagle 2 has not been heard from since it was ejected
from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter in mid-December.
The 143 pound probe gave no answering signal to scheduled attempts to contact
it on Christmas Day and has remained stubbornly silent ever since.
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- http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2623746
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