Vatican astronomers thrilled at Spirit probe landing on Mars

Published: 2004-01-05

ROME (CNS) -- Engineers at the U.S. space agency, NASA, weren't the only people thrilled at the successful landing of the Spirit on Mars. Vatican astronomers, too, were overjoyed and relieved at the robot's safe touchdown Jan. 3. "We used to joke about how the Martian star wars defense system was so good because it has been able to keep out so many invading interplanetary probes from Earth," said U.S. Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, an astronomer, planetary scientist and curator of the Vatican meteorite collection. Only three exploratory probes have made it successfully onto the red planet: the Viking 1 and 2, which both landed in 1976, and the Mars Pathfinder in 1997. "The Russians have sent a number of probes as well as the Americans and there may still be some hope yet the Beagle 2 will send a signal it has landed," Brother Consolmagno said. The British-built Beagle 2 landed on Mars Dec. 25, but no radio signal had been received to indicate it survived. The six-wheeled Spirit robot was to sniff out signs of life or conditions that support life. "It's an engineering success. A huge breakthrough," said U.S. Jesuit Father George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory.

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