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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

, Parker said the finding means that Beagle 2 was more of a success "than we previously knew and undoubtedly an important step in Europe's continuing exploration of Mars."


Marks Sims, the University of Leicester scientist, said it's still not clear what happened to the spacecraft. But, he says, it had to be fully deployed in order to communicate back to Earth.

It appears, Sims said, that the radio antenna never deployed.

The Beagle-2 Mars Lander was lost Christmas Day 2003. Today, British scientists confirmed their spacecraft was found partially deployed on the surface of the Red Planet.

Long-Lost European spacecraft spotted by NASA probe orbiting Mars

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