Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at January 8, 2004 12:00 PM

Disappointed European scientists insisted they were still in the race to find signs of life on Mars after another attempt to reach their missing Beagle 2 probe failed to pick up a signal yesterday. As NASA scientists proudly broadcast the first full-colour pictures of the Martian surface taken by their craft that landed safely over the weekend, their colleagues at the European Space Agency were scrambling to keep their first mission to Mars alive.