The UK's Beagle 2 spacecraft, which is to fly to Mars next year, is beginning to take shape in a new $2 million ultra-clean Asceptic Assembly Facility at the Open University.
Beagle 2 will be deployed from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express, which will be launched by a Soyuz Fregat booster from Baikonur next June, and will reach Mars on 23 December. Astrium has delivered the Mars lander's heatshield to the university.
Because the 30kg (66lb) Beagle 2 will analyse the soil on Mars it is crucial the measurements are not spoiled by human contamination while the spacecraft is being built and prepared for launch. As a result, Beagle 2's eight instruments are being installed in the clean room, which is part-funded by ESA.
The eight instruments, including a rock corer, grinder and a mole to burrow under the soil, will search for signs of life, including water, carbonate minerals, the occurrence of organic residues, the complexity and structure of organic material, and the isotopic fractionation between organic and inorganic phases.
"The assembly room will keep Beagle 2 free from terrestrial micro-organisms and other forms of contamination," says project creator Professor Colin Pillinger.
Source: Flight International