13
$\begingroup$

Based on the scientific equipment on Beagle 2 and the planned or possible activities/experiments is there anything it would or could have done that has not been done since?

In other words, if Beagle 2 had been successful, what might we know about Mars that we we don't know now?

Edit: (Thanks to @WayneConrad for the feedback) What I'd like to know is based on the experiments that Beagle 2 was equipped to carry out, would these experiments have answered any questions that cannot now actually be answered by any other Mars missions? And what are these currently unanswered questions (if any)?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
3
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ It's hard to know what we would have known (what would the answers have been to the questions posed by the experiments). But it's easier to know what experiments Beagle 2 planned to do, and if any of those experiments would have been asking different questions than subsequent missions. $\endgroup$
    – Wayne Conrad
    Mar 29, 2022 at 19:05
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @WayneConrad - thanks for the feedback, I'll edit the question to (hopefully) make it less opinion based. $\endgroup$
    – Wiggo the Wookie
    Mar 29, 2022 at 19:19
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ We still don't know how "Cool Britannia" works on Mars (with a faint air of Dad-dancing-at-the-disco Beagle 2 had a camera calibration target painted by Damien Hirst and a musical call sign of nine notes composed by the Britpop band "Blur") $\endgroup$
    – Tom Goodfellow
    Mar 30, 2022 at 21:06

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
24
$\begingroup$

I think there's a good case to be made for the digging element ("mole"): after Beagle, it was developed into a similar one which later flew on InSight. This newer one was not a success when deployed in 2019 - it failed to dig into the regolith. It seems plausible that had the team been able to deploy the Beagle mole - and probably find out it didn't work - that they'd have had a good chance to use that lesson to redesign the second generation.

In other words, Beagle probably wouldn't have got a useful result from that instrument, but it would have meant a later mission had a better shot at getting that data.

If the InSight mole had worked as planned, it would have given us more reliable data on Martian geophysics - how heat flows through the planet, which would have implications for determining its internal structure. There is a NASA summary of the objectives here.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.