Beagle 2 set for Christmas Day landing 
23-Dec-03 23:31 GMT 
                          
Summary 

Beagle 2 is currently travelling the last miles of its journey to the
Red Planet alone and without any propulsion systems of its own.
Thanks to the careful alignment of Mars Express on 19th December
and accuracy of the spin-up and eject mechanism it is now believed
that Beagle 2 is heading for a landing ellipse measuring 80km by
15km, much smaller than originally envisaged. 
                          
Full story 

Beagle 2 was ejected successfully from Mars Express on 19th
December and is presently on a collision course for Mars! It is
expected to land on Christmas Day at 2.54am Greenwich Mean Time,
with the aid of parachutes and airbags. The Beagle 2 team will be
holding an all night vigil in London and will be eagerly awaiting a
signal from the lander and news that it survived its dramatic descent. 

Because Mars Express is due to be in the middle of manoeuvres to
place itself in an orbit around Mars, the first attempt to contact
Beagle 2 will be via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter (which has been
circling Mars since 2001). Odyssey will pass over Beagle 2 at about
5.30am GMT, try to establish contact and hopefully beam back data
to Earth at about 7am GMT. 

The smaller landing ellipse than initially thought will help Odyssey
position itself in the best place to pin-point Beagle 2, particularly
useful as Odyssey will have about 10-20 minutes to try and pick up a
signal from Beagle 2 on the surface. 

More information about the first communication with Beagle 2 and
answers to other frequently asked questions have been posted in the
FAQ section (see the link on the right).