Mars Express Fails to Hear Beagle 2

January 7, 2004 | The first attempt for the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter to hear from the Beagle 2 lander was unsuccessful. The spacecraft passed over Beagle 2's landing site at about 12:15 Universal Time today (7:15 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) but it did not detect a signal from below. "We have not lost hope yet to contact Beagle 2," says ESA's director of science David Southwood, who explained that additional attempts would be made. "But we also know that it has landed on an unforgiving planet."