Long-Lost European Spacecraft Spotted On Mars By NASA Probe

More than a decade after it went missing, British scientists say they have found a small spacecraft on the surface of Mars.

The Beagle 2 Mars lander was launched aboard the Mars Express in June of 2003. It was an ambitious project that was supposed to look for life on the Red Planet. On Dec. 19, 2003, it separated from the Express and was to enter Mars' atmosphere on Christmas Day.

That was the last British scientists heard from the spacecraft, and they always thought it had been lost on the way in, that it had likely crashed onto the surface.

Today, the U.K. Space Agency said images sent back by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show that Beagle 2 landed safely but only partially deployed. npr