International award for team behind Beagle 2

Nasa's Mars Orbiter traced the probe on Mars' surface Credit: PA

The team of scientists behind the Beagle 2 mission to Mars have been given an international award, seven months after the UK Space Agency confirmed the spacecraft had landed successfully.

The probe vanished while attempting a Christmas Day landing on the planet in 2003.

The 2015 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Industry/Project team award was presented at the UK Space Conference in Liverpool.

It was received on behalf of the whole Beagle 2 team by Professor Mark Sims, formerly Beagle 2 Mission Manager, from the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy and Dr Jim Clemmet, former Beagle 2 Chief Engineer, of Airbus Space and Defence.

Professor Mark Sims said:

The Industry/Project Team award is made for significant or outstanding achievements by a team, in all space activities.

An artists impression issued by the European Space Agency in 2002 showing how the Beagle 2 landing craft looked Credit: PA

It includes any activity by a commercial or government organisation that designs, manufactures, supplies or operates space systems, equipment or hardware, or supports and promotes the space industry.

The Beagle 2 Mars Lander, thought lost since 2003, was identified partially deployed on the surface of Mars earlier this year by images taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).