Back in December 2003 a bold and decidedly British robotic device was released from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express orbiter. The $120 million Beagle-2 lander was designed to plunge through the martian atmosphere and parachute down to the surface. Once there it would pop open a lid to reveal a suite of science instruments, with the lid in turn opening up four solar panels, all laying flat on the ground. With a robotic arm and a small ‘mole’ for getting subsurface samples, Beagle-2′s primary science goals were to study martian geology, chemistry, and to sniff for isotopic signatures of life.
Weighing in at about 33 kilos and only about 2 meters across when deployed, Beagle-2 was a mere puppy of a Mars explorer.
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