Beagle : from sailing ship to Mars spacecraft

This book celebrates the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission to take the Beagle 2 lander to Mars. Pillinger examines here the analogies that can be drawn between the stories of the Beagle 2 and its namesake, Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle. Examples include the financial trouble both missions encountered, their positions as adventures at the cutting-ege of their era's science, and scepticism from the public about their potential. Despite contact with the Beagle 2 being lost in 2004, the book captures the hopeful moment when it was first launched, and the extensive historical relevance behind its name.