Europe ends search for missing Mars lander, inquiry called

European scientists officially declared the Beagle 2 Mars lander lost on Wednesday. They are opening an inquiry into its disappearance.

"Whilst orbiting spacecraft continue to listen out for Beagle 2, the project has now officially moved on to assessing the possible reasons for the lack of communication," said Colin Pillinger, the lead British scientist on the Beagle team.

British scientists built the miniature laboratory, which was scheduled to land on the Red Planet on Dec. 25.

Beagle 2 failed to make contact with Earth after its planned touchdown.

The lander's mothership, Mars Express, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter and radio telescopes all tried to contact it.

Scientists feared the lander may have been destroyed, failed to open properly or landed in a crater where it couldn't communicate.

"The inquiry could be greatly aided in its search for evidence if some Beagle 2 artifact, such as the parachute, can be identified by cameras scrutinizing the possible landing site," Pillinger said.

The joint investigation by the British government and the European Space Agency will try to determine why Beagle 2 may have failed and set out lessons for future missions.

The inquiry will look into the development and testing of the 33-kilogram probe on Earth and in flight.

Chaired by ESA Inspector General René Bonnefoy, the board's members will be people who had no direct involvement in the mission. They'll probe the decisions made, funding, resources, management and responsibilities for the mission.

The space industry praised Beagle 2 engineers for its miniaturization, but critics said a drawback of the small size was it couldn't carry backup systems.