A British space mission to Mars suffered a major setback on Thursday when its probe failed to broadcast a signal to confirm it had landed on the red planet.

Scientists had hoped their mission rocket, orbiting Mars, would hear a nine note tune coming from Beagle 2, which had been due to land on the planet earlier in the day.

But by 6:15 a.m. (0615 GMT) the rocket passed out of the potential signal range without hearing anything.

"We're disappointed, but it's not the end of the world," said mission head Colin Pillinger. He said the failure to detect the signal + composed for the occasion by British pop group Blur + did not mean Beagle 2 had crashed or burned up as it headed to Mars.

Pillinger said there would be a second opportunity to pick up a signal late on Christmas Day.

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