NEWSFROMTHE
A round-up of news provided by the Society to keep its members informed
Some of the Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill team who worked on the Spin-Up Eject Mechanism (SUEM); from left Kevin Brown CEng, MSEE, Graham Flawn, Steve Burnage CEng, Hon.FSEE (holding the SUEM) and Mark Lawson IEng MSEE
BEAGLE2AWARD HONOURSMEMBERS
Societymember Steve Burnage spoke for his colleagues when he said that it was a great to be part of the teamand to have all their hard work recognised after so long
A remarkable space project worked on by SEE engineers has been recognisedwith a prestigious award. The Beagle 2MarsMission
engineering teamreceived the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Space Achievement in the industry/project category back in 2015. The teamwas presented with certificates by Dr Jim Clemment (Beagle 2 Chief Engineer) at a ceremony held at LockheedMartin Ampthill (UK) on 27 November 2017. Three out of the four
engineers receiving the award are SEEmembers:Mark Lawson IEng,MSEE, Kevin Brown CEng MSEE and Professor Steve Burnage CEng Hon.FSEE,who were part of the Lockheed Martin Spin Up and Ejection Mechanism(SUEM) team. The story began back in
December 2003,when the Beagle 2 probewas separated fromspacecraftMars Express Orbiter using a Spin-Up Eject Mechanism(SUEM) designed by the Ampthill engineers. The SUEMwas to support Beagle 2 during its launch fromMars Express and its transfer to the Red Planet. On landing, the probewas
supposed to open like a clamshell and deploy solar panels and instruments that would look for signs of life on Mars. But nothingmorewas heard
fromBeagle 2 after itwas successfully ejected fromits mothership. On 25 December 2003 it plummeted through the Martian atmosphere atmore than 20,000kph andwas never heard fromagain. Speculation on themission’s
failure included the probe missing the planet completely, burning up on entry, running into poorweather or hitting the ground too hard. The Ampthill-designed SUEM
was the last known thing to work on themission and the Beagle 2was presumed lost. That is, until early in 2016,
when images fromNasa’sMars Reconnaissance Orbiter located themissing probe intact on the surface ofMars. Itwas discovered that the
Beagle 2 had indeed landed on Mars on Christmas Day 2003 and that the probe had only missed its intended target by a couple
ofmiles.Most of the solar panels had partially opened, and itwas the inactivation of the final panel in the clamshell that had resulted in themain antenna not being
exposed and no communication taking place. Professor Steve Burnage, chief
engineer for the SUEM, said: “When Beagle 2was discovered wewere elated that themission was farmore of a success than we had grown to livewith, yet frustrated that itwas only a couple ofmalfunctioning panels that led to failure.Wewere so very close to being part of a historic, successfulmission. “However, itwas really
satisfying to find out that after its 50million kilometre journey the probe landedwithin 5km of the target, and that the original calculationswere spot on after all.” Steve Burnage added: “It’s a
great honour to be part of the teamthat haswon this award and to be recognised for our hardwork after all this time.”
December 2017 /// Environmental Engineering /// 23
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