Since the 2nd of June 2003, one of ESAÍs most challenging missions has been travelling to the red Planet Mars. The Mars Express spacecraft was built and launched in record time and at a lower cost than previous, similar missions into outer space. The project started in 1997, the arrival is planned for Christmas this year. A payload of seven scientific instruments constitute the heart of the Mars Express orbiter that will fly around the planet.

Mars Express-BEAGLE 2
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Since the 2nd of June 2003, one of ESAÕs most challenging missions has been travelling to the red Planet Mars. The Mars Express spacecraft was built and launched in record time and at a lower cost than previous, similar missions into outer space. The project started in 1997, the arrival is planned for Christmas this year. A payload of seven scientific instruments constitute the heart of the Mars Express orbiter that will fly around the planet. During two years, it will make a series of remote sensing experiments designed to shed new light on a planet that shares many similarities with the Earth.
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Most instruments onboard Mars Express were adapted from another ESA mission called Rosetta. Just one had to be built up from scratch: A lander called Beagle 2 after the ship in which Charles Darwin set sail to explore unknown areas of the Earth in 1831.
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This lander was developed here at the Open University in Milton Keynes, not far from London. A group of scientis