THE Beagle 2 spacecraft, which had been due to land on Mars on Christmas Day, may have crashed because it was going too fast.

Mission scientists have suggested that the probe may have crashed into the Red Planet because the planet's atmosphere was less dense than expected stopping the craft's parachute and airbags from providing a soft landing.

The spacecraft, which was partly funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council based in North Star, Swindon had been targeted to land in a lowland basin called Isidis Planitia to look for signs of past or present life, but no signal was ever received after it had landed.

The theory for the craft's disappearance was given at a meeting in London called Beagle 2 and Beyond.

It was the first time the mission team had presented its first observations on what may have gone wrong.

Scientists at the Council decline to comment until the board of inquiry releases its findings into what happened.