Open Eye: Our history on the red planet

Mars could hold key secrets to the earth's past and our future. With the European Space Agency planning to send a historic mission there, OU Professor Colin Pillinger argues that the British should be involved. By Yvonne Cook

A few days into the new year of 2004, a spacecraft bearing a British flag is due to land on Mars to begin the first systematic search for evidence of life on another planet. Catapulted onto the surface of the red planet from its mother ship in space, the disc-shaped space probe will unfold to display its array of solar panels and a variety of scientific instruments, including a robot arm to collect Martian rock and soil samples for analysis in its on-board laboratory. The resulting scientific measurements may enable scientists to settle once and for all the controversy over whether Mars was once home to life.

It may sound like science fiction, but plans for Mars Express, the European Space Agency (ESA) mission, are already well underway. And playing a key role is a small group of British scientists and engineers led by Professor Colin Pillinger, head of the Planetary Sciences Research Institute (PSRI) at the Open University.

The European Space Agency, ESA, first put forward a plan for a European Mars mission last year, but it did not include a lander vehicle. Mars Express would simply orbit the red planet, taking photographs and scientific measurements from a distance. Colin and a group of other scientists, who felt this was a tragically missed opportunity, joined forces to convince ESA to change its mind. Known as the 'exobiology' (the scientific term for extraterrestrial life) group, they lobbied ESA, who finally agreed to invite bids for one or more lander vehicles, on the basis that the successful bidders would find their own funding.

The result is Beagle 2, the Mars lander vehicle currently being designed by an international consortium headed by Colin at the OU's PSRI, and Dr Mark Sims, project manager of the Space Research Centre at Leicester University.

The major participants are British universities and industrial partners, supported mainly by German associates. The craft is named after the ship which took Charles Darwin on his historic voyage around the world.

On the technical side, the challenge of Beagle 2 has been to create a miniaturised scientific laboratory, once described by Colin as "like tryingto reduce a Land Rover to the dimensions of a couple of bags of sugar". It needs to be robust enough to survive landing and Martian temperatures which plunge to -75 degrees Centigrade at night. However, the main obstacles look likely to be as much economic as technical. Plans for a mobile 'rover' vehicle have had to be re-thought after ESA reduced the payload available to scientists; they have been replaced by an innovative crawling 'mole'.

The search for past life is not the sole purpose of the quest. Analysis of the age and mineralogy of the rocks will yield valuable information about the planet itself. From studies of the atmosphere, scientists will not only learn about what conditions are like on Mars now, but how the planet has evolved - which could help in the understanding of our own evolution. And for Colin, the Mars mission can be a 'popular' event in the true sense - a people's expedition. "Beagle 2 will cost roughly 25 million pounds. That's about one-third of the cost of making a medium- budget Hollywood movie. And for that we would be putting out a great amount of prime time TV coverage." The first British flag to land on another planet will be on the lander, along with the OU logo.

Funding is the next hurdle Beagle 2 has to overcome. In November, ESA will be seeking approval from its space policy committee to spend around 100 million pounds towards the launch and operations of the Mars Express mission (less than half the budget of the recent American Pathfinder mission), but this does not include the lander costs.

Neither has British government agency, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), put aside funds. Colin believes it is important the British play a full role: "This is our legacy to civilisation. If we don't do our bit now, in 200 years time people will say: 'what did those people who explored half the world do in the 21st century?'"