HMS Beagle | Beagle 2 | Timeline
Charles Darwin
© English Heritage This 2002 exhibition set the voyages of HMS Beagle, which carried out surveys and scientific exploration between 1826 and 1843, alongside that of the lander Beagle 2, a British-led mission to explore Mars for signs of life which sadly ended with the loss of the Beagle 2 on entering the Martian atmosphere.
The voyages of HMS Beagle are notable for two reasons. Darwin joined the ship in 1831 as a naturalist. During these voyages he developed his theories of evolution, culminating in his book The Origin of Species.
Moreover, the ship's captain, Robert Fitzroy, was an expert meteorologist who later established the Meteorological Office.
HMS Beagle
HMS BeagleHMS Beagle was an unremarkable 10-gun brig launched in 1820 and was specially commissioned for the Navy's new surveying programme.
For 17 years, HMS Beagle surveyed much of the world including South America from 1826–1835 and Oceania from 1835–1840. A number of significant discoveries were made during these voyages, most in those to Australia.
Theodolite, Lort Stokes collectionScientific instruments were used by the crew to survey and provide information for new and accurate charts. The crew also undertook various experiments and, despite some disappointments, they produced useful results. They were especially successful in the measurement of earthquakes during experiments in 1835.
Beagle 2
The Mars Express is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to Mars consisting of an orbiter, the Mars Express Orbiter, and a lander, the Beagle 2. Beagle 2 was a small probe designed to land on Mars and search for signs of past or present life by analysing samples from the planet's surface. The probe was due to land on Mars on Christmas Day 2003 but contact with the probe was lost shortly after it was detached from its mothership and entered the Martian atmosphere.
The probe has been officially declared lost and an inquiry has been launched. It is believed the probe was damaged by the impact on the planet's surface. Scientists continue to search for signs of the probe to find out what happened.
Timeline The Beagle
5 July 1805: Robert Fitzroy born at Ampton Hall, Suffolk. 12 February 1809: Charles Darwin born in Shrewsbury. 1812: John Lort Stokes born.
1819: Fitzroy enters the Royal Navy.
11 May 1820: HMS Beagle launched at Woolwich at a cost of £7803. 1825–1843: HMS Beagle commissioned as a survey vessel.
1825–1843: John Lort Stokes on board HMS Beagle for all of its three surveying voyages.
1828: Fitzroy takes temporary command of HMS Beagle after the suicide of its captain, Pringle Stokes, on its first surveying voyage.
1828–31: Darwin attends Cambridge University.
1830: Charles Lyell’s influential book, The Principles of Geology, published by John Murray, London.
1831–1836: Fitzroy takes full command of HMS Beagle for its second surveying voyage.
Dec 1831–Oct 1836: Darwin joins the crew of HMS Beagle on its surveying voyage to South America and Australia.
December 1831: HMS Beagle sets sail from England.
January 1839: Darwin marries his cousin, Emma Wedgwood.
16 January 1832: HMS Beagle arrives at the Cape Verde Islands, its first land-fall.
March 1833 & March 1834: HMS Beagle visits the Falkland Islands on two separate occasions. 15 Sept–20 Oct. 1835: HMS Beagle visits the Galapagos Islands. 12–30 January 1836: HMS Beagle arrives at Sydney, Australia.
October 1836: HMS Beagle returns to Falmouth, England completing her voyage. 1839: Darwin and Fitzroy publish Journal of Researches, relating to their voyages. 1841: Fitzroy becomes M.P. for Durham.
1843: Fitzroy becomes governor of New Zealand.
1845: HMS Beagle becomes a Coast Guard Watch vessel.
November 1859: Darwin’s On the Origin of Species published by John Murray, London. 1863: Fitzroy’s The Weather Book published by Longman, London. 30 April 1865: Fitzroy commits suicide at his home in London. 19 April 1882: Charles Darwin dies at Down House, Kent.
11 June 1885: Stokes dies at his home in Haverfordwest, Wales.
Beagle 2
20 May 1997: Mars lander is named Beagle 2.
1998: The proposal for a 60kg lander is delivered to the European Space Agency (ESA) headquarters for technical endorsement. ESA confirms the Beagle 2 lander as a priority for the 2003 Mars Express mission.
June 2003: Mars Express launched from Kazakhstan, with Beagle 2 on board. 19 December 2003: Beagle 2 seperates from Mars Express
25 December 2003: Beagle 2 scheduled to land on the planet surface. Initial signal fails to reach Earth. Hunt for the lander begins
7 January 2004: Mars Express enters a low orbit in an effort to find the lander. Successive passes prove unsuccessful. Mars Express searches for the last time on 14 January
February 2004: Beagle 2 scheduled to switch to back-up communications system. Earth-based observatories will resume the search.
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