Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at December 21, 2003 12:00 PM

This was the moment when the man behind the Beagle 2 space probe knew it had safely parted from its mother ship. Professor Colin Pillinger beamed and clasped his hands in glee yesterday as the British probe sped off towards a landing on Mars. Prof Pillinger was among an audience of VIPs including the Duke of York in London when the news came live from mission control in Germany.