Beagle 2 Beagle 2 The Beagle 2 was a British Mars lander that was transported by the European Space Agency's 2003 "Mars Express" mission. It was an astrobiology mission that would have looked for past life on the shallow surface of Mars. The spacecraft was successfully deployed from the "Mars Express" on 19 December 2003 and was scheduled to land on the surface of Mars on 25 December; however, no contact was received at the expected time of landing on Mars. ESA declared the mission lost in February 2004, after numerous attempts to contact the spacecraft were made. The "Beagle 2" fate
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