Deeply disappointed British scientists read the last rites for their missing Mars lander Beagle 2 on Monday, and called for a new space mission to replace the life-seeking probe.
"Under these circumstances we have to begin to accept that if Beagle 2 is on the Martian surface, it is not active," Colin Pillinger, the probe's lead scientist, said. "But now is not the time to grieve. We must look to the future."
After a series of attempts to contact the lander, which should have parachuted onto the surface of the Red Planet on Christmas day, one final attempt will be made to jolt it into life.
In the next few days the American Mars Odyssey orbiter, which monitors two probes on the Martian surface that landed this month sending back some startling pictures, will send a final signal telling Beagle 2 to shut down and reboot. But Pillinger said the operation was highly risky and did not have a serious chance of success.
"It is a pretty drastic action. That is why we have left it to the last minute," he said. "It is pretty much a last resort. But we are not very hopeful it will work."
The failure is in stark contrast to the successful landing by the US of the mobile probes Spirit and Opportunity and to the confirmation last week by Beagle 2's orbiting mother ship Mars Express that there is water on Mars.
Pillinger congratulated both NASA and the European Space Agency but insisted the science on Beagle 2 was superior to the US probes and urged Europe to consider mounting a new mission.
"We still believe that we were the only lander with experiments on board to find if there has been life...and to take it further to find if there is still life on Mars," he said.
"We hope very much we will be back with Beagle 2 pups," Pillinger said.
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