How much did the entire Sojourner Rover mission cost? It's been a while since I've seen the data but I think it was considerably more than the failed 1999 Lander. And THAT cost considerably more than Beagle 2. Might you have the Sojourner statistics conveniently handy? I think it's hypocritical that NASA named that rover Sojourner Truth to appease black constituents when NASA has done anything BUT what it could to finally set us all free from the economic malaise related to being confined to a single planet.

I agree that there are risks of failure with the Beagle 2 mission. Most missions to Mars fail, right? But the (challenged but still not failed) Japanese Nozomi mission only cost around $86 million, and Beagle 2 is costing far less than that (excluding the launch fee). Doesn't this suggest that NASA could get more bang for its buck by offering competitive prizes to incentivize competing U.S. teams (one of which could hire you). Do you really want NASA to keep offering mere contracts for a monopolistic Lockheed Martin, the company that graced us with the dawn of the new millennium which was clouded by those embarrassing 1999 Mars failures?