Colin Pillinger R.I.P.

Sad loss. One of those guys that could communicate space science and get people interested, which has to be a good thing.

Martians had him taken out, he was getting too close, RIP.

well they certainly took Beagle 2, landed on Mars, never heard from again

sounds a good scientist r.i.p.

we need more of those

only wish I was as clever

Very sad, he's been ill for a while with MS.  He was a true pioneer and a great communicator, unfortunately the Beagle failure caused him to be cast as a bit of a science loony by the media and his 'classic mad scientist' appearance and humble nature made him easy fodder.  He fought very hard to get the whole Beagle mission taken seriously and to get it launched, the budget was tiny.

apologies, I was being facetious about Beagle 2 Alpha Centauri

landing anything on Mars is risky, other missions have failed, it was just bad luck

To be honest I love this sort of bloke..and am sad he has died

just my bad taste humour

^^^^^

REPORTED

I think all unmanned landings on Mars are a bit pot luck

as we have no direct control over a landing, because of the time delay radio waves would take to reach it

We rely on everything working, the controlling software working, and just hope for the right landing spot

Beagle 2 has probably just landed at a bad angle, it cannot communicate with us, so it is dead

EG you had nothing to apologise for, no offence was taken.

I think it must have been a terrible disappointment to Colin, we did not hear from Beagle 2

so much work and money wasted

but I think it is par for the course

from the moment we send landing instructions to an orbiting lander, to the time we hear from it on the ground,

then everybody connected with any of these unmanned missions must have their fingers crossed

it could have been any number of reasons we did not hear again

AS we progress our landers will become more sophisticated

but I am sad for Colin on that one

Colin had a useful life, he earned his corn

alpha centauri

Looking at Wikipedia

Beagle 2 was part of the European Space Agency Mars Express Orbiteer mission...which was to map and analyse

the surface of Mars. This was successful and is still orbiting.

Beagle 2 was relatively cheap and launched from Mars Express into the Martian Atmosphere.

The probable cause of failure was either in its parachute or landing bags to cushion impact.

These either did not deploy properly or became entangled with Beagle 2 itself.

Nobody knows for certain, but this is believed the most likely cause of failure.

Out of 38 attempts to reach Mars, only 19 have succeeded, it is not easy

A brave try that failed.

r.i.p Colin

I should spend more time studying my greyhounds than posting on here

much needed, after recent results, I get bored easily.

Shame he wasn't about today to find out that Beagle 2 did land and partially deployed as well.

I think the tesco shopping trolley didn't deploy as expected....wobbly wheel?