Lander (spacecraft) a landing which should have come on 25 December 2003 was not received. Indeed, no communication was ever established and "Beagle 2" was declared lost on 6 February 2004. The proposed 2009 British Beagle 3 lander mission to search for life, past or present was not adopted. The French/ESA NetLander mission for 2007 or 2009, with an orbiter and 4 landers, was cancelled because it was too expensive. Its successor, Mars MetNet, a multi-lander mission for 2011–2019 was not adopted by the ESA. The American Mars Exploration Rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity" were launched in June and July 2003. They reached
Composition of Mars Composition of Mars The composition of Mars covers the branch of the geology of Mars that describes the make-up of the planet Mars. Also like Earth, Mars is a differentiated planet, meaning that it has a central core made up of metallic iron and nickel surrounded by a less dense, silicate mantle and crust. The planet's distinctive red color is due to the oxidation of iron on its surface. Much of what we know about the elemental composition of Mars comes from orbiting spacecraft and landers. (See Exploration of Mars for list.) Most of these spacecraft carry spectrometers and other