Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at December 29, 2003 12:00 PM

With Mars Express safely in orbit around the Red Planet, all ears are turned towards the Martian surface in an effort to detect a signal from Beagle 2, the United Kingdom’s Mars mission that was to bounce to a landing on Christmas day. "While we're disappointed that things have not gone according to plan, we are determined that the search should go on, both the search to make contact with Beagle 2 and also (the search) to answer the long term question about whether there is life on Mars," said Lord Sainsbury, the United Kingdom’s Minister for Science and Innovation.