Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at May 28, 2004 11:34 AM

If a neat line were ever to be drawn under the failure of Beagle 2, a British spacecraft, to arrive safely on Mars on Christmas Day 2003, an independent and transparent investigation was needed. By its own admission, then, the European Space Agency (ESA) has failed to deliver. Six of the nine people who put the report together are existing or past ESA staff members. And, except for a list of recommendations, the report is to remain secret—even from the scientists who designed and built the lander.