NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, orbiting Mars, failed to catch a signal from the Beagle 2 spacecraft, confirming the fact of the vehicle's successful landing on the surface of the Red Planet. This was announced by the official representative of the American government agency for research in physics and astronomy, Peter Barrett.

It was assumed that Beagle 2 was supposed to land on the Martian surface on the night of December 25, but all attempts to catch the corresponding signal failed, AP reports.

It is unknown whether the device crashed during landing or whether any technical malfunctions occurred. Scientists are speculating about what happened to the scientific module and admit that the chances of establishing contact with Beagle 2 are rapidly falling.

According to the BBC, the most likely option is that the device "overshot" the planned area and landed in another place, from which its signal may not reach the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. According to another version, the signal from the Beagle may encounter some kind of interference and not reach the Mars Odyssey apparatus and telescopes. In addition, as Professor K. Pillinger suggests, there could be a malfunction in the Beagle transmitter, and it transmits a signal not at the moment when scientists expect it.

In the coming days, new efforts will be made to find the device. If everything is in order with the probe, it will transmit a signal at a frequency of 401.56 MHz. In addition, as expected, January 4, 2004. An attempt to establish contact with the Beagle-2 apparatus will be made by Mars Express, which sent a probe to Mars a week ago.

Recall that the Beagle 2 research probe was sent to Mars to look for traces of possible life on the Red Planet. A high-resolution color three-dimensional image of the surface of Mars was to be transmitted to Earth via a stereo camera.

The total cost of the project was estimated at 300 million euros.

Research module on Mars shows no signs of life