Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at December 20, 2005 11:49 PM

The British scientist behind the failed Beagle 2 probe said Tuesday he believes he has located the craft’s wreckage on the surface of Mars. Nothing has been heard from Beagle 2 — named for the ship that took naturalist Charles Darwin on his 19th-century voyage of discovery — since it separated from its mother ship Dec. 19, 2003. It had been due to land on Mars six days later. Colin Pillinger, the lead scientist on the mission, said the latest images from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggested Beagle plunged into a crater near its planned landing site.