SCIENTISTS trying to make contact with the Beagle 2 spacecraft on Mars are now pinning their hopes on Sunday.
Experts, partly funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council based in North Star, Swindon, have been using radio telescopes in California, Cheshire and the Netherlands to try to contact the tiny spacecraft, but without success. They are now hoping that the Mars Express mothership, which carried Beagle 2 to Mars, might be able to make contact when it arrives in orbit at the weekend. Dr Mark Sims, Beagle 2's mission manager, said: "Our best opportunity to communicate with Beagle 2 is probably to wait until Mars Express is in position."
The Beagle 2 was expected to land on Mars on Christmas Day to begin its search for signs of life, but so far there has been no signal to say whether it had landed safely.
Scientists believe the craft has landed but may have malfunctioned. Now the Beagle team are working overtime to figure out what went wrong.
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