Editing Beagle 3 (section)

{{Short description|Cancelled Mars lander mission}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
[[File:Beagle 2 Evolution.svg|thumb|Diagram of the proposed ''Beagle 3'']]

'''Beagle 3'''<ref name=BBC3>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3977967.stm Scientists lift veil on Beagle 3]</ref><ref>[http://nasawatch.com/archives/2007/09/beagle-3-to-the-moon-no-chance.html Beagle 3 To The Moon? No Chance.]</ref> (also called '''Beagle 2: Evolution''') was a proposed [[Mars]] lander mission to search for [[life on Mars]], past or present. ''Beagle 3'' was the proposed successor to the failed British ''[[Beagle 2]]'' Mars [[Lander (spacecraft)|lander]], with which communication was lost. ''Beagle 3'' was promoted by Professor [[Colin Pillinger]], lead scientist on the ''Beagle 2''. [[EADS Astrium]] also played a part in funding and early development of the project. Pillinger dreamed of launching up to two landing craft from an orbiter in 2009 as part of the [[European Space Agency]]'s [[Aurora Programme]].  The putative ''Beagle 3'' would be named after the ship [[HMS Beagle]] that took [[Charles Darwin]] around the world.

After the ''Beagle 3'' project was rejected by ESA in 2004, Pillinger proposed to the [[NASA]] to hitch a ride on the [[Mars Science Laboratory]] Mars lander,<ref>{{cite news | first=Paul | last=Rincon | title='Beagle 3' looks to American ride | date=26 July 2004 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3926253.stm | work =BBC News | access-date = 2008-11-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Roger | last=Highfield | title=Beagle 'may go to Mars on Nasa's flying bedstead' | date=25 Aug 2004 | url =https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1470132/Beagle-may-go-to-Mars-on-Nasas-flying-bedstead.html | work =The Telegraph | access-date = 2008-11-16 }}</ref> but the proposal was not accepted.

One of the goals of Beagle 3 was to support the ESA [[Aurora programme]] if chosen.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3977967.stm|title = Scientists lift veil on Beagle 3|date = 3 November 2004}}</ref>