Repeated attempts to reach Beagle have failed

A command signal is to be sent from the American Mars Odyssey orbiter to try to reboot the probe's onboard computer.

But the project's chief scientist, Professor Colin Pillinger, described it as a "last resort".

Beagle 2 landed on the Red Planet on Christmas Day, and the project team admit that after hearing nothing from it since, the probe is probably lost.

Long shot

If Beagle 2 is still intact on the Martian surface and capable of receiving the message, the reboot command could just kick-start it into communicating.

Professor Pillinger wants to send more Beagles to Mars

But Professor Pillinger said it was a long shot.

"If it gets through, it will tell Beagle to switch off and reload the software," he explained.

"We are now working on the basis that there is a corrupt system and the only way we might resurrect it is to send that command."

Professor Pillinger said the repeated failure to contact Beagle using three orbiters and Earth-based radio telescopes meant the chances of getting a signal from the craft were very slim.

Future 'pups'

The mission team has now started to look at what might have gone wrong and a board of inquiry will also be set up by the European Space Agency (Esa).

A key to this investigation will be getting an image showing Beagle or its landing components on the surface.

The head of science at Esa, Professor David Southwood, told BBC News Online: "Mars has something of a jinx for spacecraft.

"There is a long history of investigations of failed Mars missions. We want to make sure we add to the lessons learned."

Professor Pillinger and his colleagues are keen to send "pups" of Beagle to Mars in 2007.