[escepticos] Mars, here comes Europe!

["Richi" <chiri189@...>]

El Beagle 2 ha zarpado y parece que todo va bien. Ahora hay que esperar
hasta el 25 para ver si el éxito es completo:

http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMSSY274OD_index_0.html


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Mars Express releases Beagle 2


19 December 2003
ESA PR 83-2003. This morning, ESA's Mars Express flawlessly released the
Beagle 2 lander that it has been carrying since its launch on 2 June this
year. Beagle 2 is now on its journey towards the surface of Mars, where it
is expected to land early in the morning of 25 December. Mars Express,
Europe's first mission to Mars, has passed another challenging milestone on
its way towards its final destination.

At 9:31 CET, the crucial sequence started to separate the Beagle 2 lander
from Mars Express. As data from Mars Express confirm, the pyrotechnic device
was fired to slowly release a loaded spring, which gently pushed Beagle 2
away from the mother spacecraft. An image from the on-board visual
monitoring camera (VMC) showing the lander drifting away is expected to be
available later today.

Since the Beagle 2 lander has no propulsion system of its own, it had to be
put on the correct course for its descent before it was released. For this
reason, on 16 December, the trajectory of the whole Mars Express spacecraft
had to be adjusted to ensure that Beagle 2 would be on course to enter the
atmosphere of Mars. This manoeuvre, called 'retargeting', was critical: if
the entry angle is too steep, the lander could overheat and burn up in the
atmosphere; if the angle is too shallow, the lander might skim like a pebble
on the surface of a lake and miss its target.


This fine targeting and today's release were crucial manoeuvres for which
ESA's Ground Control Team at ESOC (European Space Operations Centre) had
trained over the past several months. The next major milestone for Mars
Express will be the manoeuvre to enter into orbit around Mars. This will
happen at 2:52 CET on Christmas morning, when Beagle 2 is expected to land
on the surface of Mars.


"Good teamwork by everybody - ESA, industry and the Beagle 2 team - has got
one more critical step accomplished. Mars, here comes Europe!" said David
Southwood, ESA Director of Science.

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Salu2

Richi