AUG. 23–MILTON KEYNES, England–The UK’s Beagle 2 spacecraft, which is scheduled 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 December 23. Astrium has delivered the Mars lander’s heatshield to the university.

Because the 66 pound top dog will analyze 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 cleanroom, which is partially 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 microorganisms and other forms of contamination,” says project creator Professor Colin
Pillinger.