Mars probe launch successful: European space officials

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 20, 2003

Mars probe launch successful: European space officials

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European space officials confirmed the successful launch on Friday of the Beagle 2 surface probe on a course for Mars, a critical step in Europe's first mission to explore the Red Planet for signs of life.

The British-built probe is scheduled to land Christmas morning on Mars' surface, where it will gather and sample rocks for evidence of organic matter and water. At the same time, the Mars Express space craft that launched the probe is to orbit overhead collecting radar data.

"I'm very proud to say we have made a big step toward getting to Mars, but this is really only the beginning," said David Southwood, the European Space Agency's director of science.

"Mother and baby are both doing very well. But we've got to wait until Christmas day to make the next major step."

In the control room, screens flashed to red to indicate the successful launch, but with critical maneuvers still ahead the reaction was one of hushed relief.

"It was relief, absolutely, we have all been waiting for this moment for a long time and when our screens lit up we were ecstatic," said Zeina Mounzer, the Mars Express mission head of simulations.

The mission is the first to try to determine if there is life on Mars since twin US Viking landers searched for life in 1976 but sent back inconclusive results. Of 34 American, Soviet and Russian Mars missions since 1960, two-thirds failed

The probe's launch was the first in a series of critical navigational maneuvers on which the success of the mission depends.

During the launch, the spacecraft gently pushes the probe away, setting it spinning to maintain stability as it heads toward Mars.

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