A view of Mars, European style
By Ron Cowen
Although the Mars lander Beagle 2 is presumed dead (SN: 1/31/04, p. 67: Available to subscribers at Red Planet Roundup: Opportunity knocks; Spirit revives), its mother craft, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express, has transmitted its first data from a polar orbit about the Red Planet. Researchers unveiled the findings Jan. 23 at the European Space Agency’s space operations center in Darmstadt, Germany.
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The observations include data from the craft’s infrared spectrometer that confirm the presence of water ice at the Martian south pole. NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft had previously found indirect evidence of water ice at the pole by revealing an abundance of hydrogen (SN: 1/18/03, p. 45: Available to subscribers at Mars reveals more frozen water).