Beagle 2 is a
British craft that is due to be
sent to
Mars in
2003 on the
Mars Express. The mission of this craft
is to search for life on
the red planet
and it is named after
The Beagle, the ship that
carried
Darwin to the
Galapagos Islands.
The research in the project is an all British affair.
The project received not very much money from the
British government agencies that fund such projects
and although it got the scientific go ahead from
ESA and from NASA it looked for a while that
there would not be enough funding.
At this point the head of the project looked into alternative
sources of funding and 'advertising' has been sold
in order to cover costs.
Champions of Britpop and Britart, Blur
and Damien Hirst are also involved in this attempt at
"Britspace". The first signal the craft will send back to earth after it lands on Mars will be a five note tune
to be specially composed by Blur. The sensing equipment
will calibrate itself by training on a Hurst spot painting that is to be etched on the inside of the craft.