Proposed Payload
- Advanced solar cell technology, meaning two disc-shaped solar arrays (as opposed to the previous four)
- Fanfold system - so the top of the vehicle remains horizontal (location for the main UHF antenna)
- Powerful X-band (8.0 to 12.0 GHz) antenna for direct vehicle-to-Earth radio link on the vehicle's main shell, to provide real-time descent statistics
- New lithium-ion battery technology - to be able to operate at lower temperatures, meaning less power wasted on heating - a possible 60% capacity boost to that of Beagle 2
- Deadbeat airbags, which inflate just before touch-down, and gently deflate during landing, so that the probe could come to a stop where it lands, and not bounce to a stop.
- Life-chips, which detect the presence of amino acids.
Read more about this topic: Beagle 2: Evolution
Famous quotes containing the word proposed:
“On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine,... I proposed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn, the second highest mountain in New England, about thirty miles distant, and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either alone or with such company as I might pick up there.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)