Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at December 28, 2003 12:00 PM

A TOP member of the Beagle 2 team has admitted after the failure of more attempts to find Britain’s lost Mars probe: “It’s not good news.” Professor Alan Wells, from Beagle 2’s control centre in Leicester, was speaking after another fly-by by Nasa’s orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft failed to contact the craft. This was despite it being daylight on Mars when Beagle 2’s transmitter should have been fully active. Wells, senior consultant at the British National Space Centre, said a command signal had also been sent via Odyssey to reset Beagle 2’s timer – but to no avail. Scientists had suspected that a clock error might have meant Beagle 2 was transmitting at the wrong time.