You'd also want to use lunar rocks as building supplies - it is so costly to lift even an extra kilo of steel into space, running to many hundreds of thousands of dollars,

At the beginning, some people thought we were a 'me too' mission: Send a lander to Mars and take a picture.

A little set back like a lost lander should not discourage visionaries.

All the ingredients for life on Mars exist.

Unlike (the NASA) robots, Beagle 2 won't be going sightseeing. It is intent on discovering where there is or was life on Mars. It is happy to trade measurements for mobility.

When its size, both actual and financial, is considered, it would be easy to believe Beagle 2 could not be aiming to accomplish much other than just raise a flag on Mars,