Europeans wait to hear if Beagle 2 survived Mars landing

Posted by jburk to Mars Express at December 25, 2003 12:00 PM

Europe's Beagle 2 spacecraft should be on Mars, but mission controllers in Germany will have to wait several more hours to learn whether the lander touched down successfully. Late Wednesday evening, the control teams sent the final commands to put the Mars Express craft into orbit and to plunge Beagle 2 through the planet's atmosphere.