Back from Beagle
Despite the dissappointing failure disappearance of the £35million ($62m) Beagle probe on Mars in late 2003, the British decided to up the ante and have once again taken the reins to another European space agency attempt to land a robotic probe on mars.Nicknamed Bridget, the £100 million Rover is part of the ESA’s ExoMars mission (total mission cost £410 million) which is tenatively scheduled for launch in 2011. British scientists claim that Bridget and its astronomical pricetag will represent the most technologically advanced attempt to date in the search for life on Mars.
In addition to the now standard Rover complement of cutting edge panoramic cameras, spectrometers and drill core analyizers, Bridget will also be equipped with a ‘life marker chip’. This chip is essentially a “quick and dirty” test for the elements of life (amino acides, cellular membrances and various know pigments). It can be alikened to ‘at-home pregnancy test’ technology.
For more details on this exciting development check this article from The Independent as well as this article from 24Dash.
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