Mars Photos May Show Europe’s Lost Lander

The British scientist behind the lost 2003 Beagle 2 mission to Mars said on Tuesday that the craft may have been spotted in NASA pictures.

Beagle 2, named after the ship Charles Darwin sailed in when he formulated his theory of evolution, was due to land on Mars on Christmas Day 2003. But it lost contact with Earth once it separated from its mother ship in mid-December. The craft is too small to be seen from orbit, but lead scientist Colin Pillinger said images reveal a major disturbance in a crater consistent with the probe’s air bags striking the ground too hard.