Beagle 3
By Sean Kavanagh © 2015
 Dear Vladimir.
Happy birthday! 70 years young. I thought this intercept might amuse during your recuperation. We picked it up recently off of a British government server. At first we thought it was just another embarrassing British failure, but as we read on, it became more interesting….
 Your friend always,
Edward S

Mission Report: Internal Only (EYES ONLY) – BEAGLE 3 LANDING ‘FAILURE’ DATE: 05/10/2022
Ø  This mission report is for circulation only to authorised personnel, possession of this document is considered a criminal offence for all others.
Ø  The (alternate) public mission report should be the only one referred to except to cleared personnel.
Ø  The ‘official’ timeline and events outlined in the (alternate) public mission report shall be the only ones to be disseminated to media and the other interested parties.  Those alternate events include: the failed landing of the Beagle 3 probe and its presumed destruction on the surface of Mars.  Speculation recommended includes: parachute failure, inflatable impact shield failure or loss of probe in deep crater due to navigational error.  Sabotage, other technical failures and lack of funding are not to be put forward as reasons for the ‘failure’ of Beagle 3.

Timeline of Events (as actual) – Beagle 3 Landing
(1)   Beagle 3 made a successful ‘soft’ landing within 9 kilometres of its intended landing site.
(2)   Beagle 3 successfully unfurled all of its solar panels but made no radio contact for 48 hours.  The reason for the initial 48 hour blackout is not known.
(3)   Beagle 3 transmitted its first signal on a low power back-up channel at 48 hours and 22 minutes elapsed after touchdown.  It confirmed the lander was intact and working nominally.  The signal was sent to the back-up reception centre in Oxford and was only discovered after 60 hours of surface mission time had elapsed. A single technical officer (communications) called for the mission director to review the signal, as it was unclear initially that it was from Beagle 3.
(4)   At 62 hours elapsed time, a further signal was sent via the same back-up channel.  The technical officer and Director were immediately able to read this communication. 
(5)   The communication was of scientific data (relating to the life detection instrumentation package) which was at first assumed to be erroneous.  A third person (a xenobiologist) was called to review the transmission and confirm that it was faulty/corrupt data. 
(6)   With the data from Beagle 3 confirmed corrupt, the decision was made not to announce its landing until it was clear if the mission was salvageable.
(7)   At 63 hours elapsed the signal was sent again from Beagle 3.  Again the same three personnel team reviewed the data.  Again the data – which indicated the presence of complicated life on Mars – was declared faulty and disregarded. A single communications technician was left on station. 
(8)     At 66 hours elapsed from touchdown, Beagle 3 sent its final communication to mission control.  The message was in English plain text: “I’m defecting.”
 END  If you enjoyed this story, why not have a look at my website where there are details of my other writing and collections: http://kavanaghauthor.moonfruit.com/