Aberystwyth space scientists contribute to discovery of Beagle 2 on Mars
Space scientists at Aberystwyth University have played an important role in the discovery of the remains of the Beagle 2 Mars Lander which was lost on Christmas Day 2003. The UK-led Beagle 2 Mars Lander, which hitched a ride on the ESA Mars Express mission, has been found partially deployed on the surface of Mars. This find shows that the ‘Entry, Descent and Landing’ sequence for Beagle 2 worked and the craft landed successfully. The team searching for Beagle 2 approached Dr Laurence Tyler and Dr Matt Gunn at the Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science at Aberystwyth University to provide detailed 3D images of the area where it was believed to have landed. Using powerful ‘Shape from Shading’ computer software developed by the Space Robotics Group at Aberystwyth University, Dr Tyler was able to provide a terrain map of the area from images taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Dr Tyler hopes to use the same technique to study the proposed ...