From an article posted August 17th, 2000 (The Mars Society Convention of 2000 was August 10 thru 13)

***Microscopic maneuvers

While the microscope is on the Beagle 2's manifest of science instruments, the Mars Society's claim of sponsorship of the device is incorrect, said a top official of the Beagle 2 project.

"This deal certainly does not exist," said Colin Pillinger, lead scientist for the Beagle 2 effort, and professor of planetary sciences research at the Open University, located in Milton Keynes, the United Kingdom.

"I welcome the enthusiasm of the Mars Society, there's no doubt about that. However, all sponsorship arrangements regarding Beagle 2 have to be arranged via the project. So separate deals with anybody on the team are not appropriate," Pillinger told SPACE.com.

All sponsorship arrangements are negotiated solely by Beagle 2 project officials or the London-based M&C Saatchi Sponsorship Ltd, who joined with Beagle 2 to coordinate the commercial development of the project, Pillinger said.***

http://www.space.com/searchforlife/mars_microscope_000817.html

That nothing was later written up anywhere that says we aren't sponsors and Pillinger refuses to mention names of sponsors (see below). Anyway, Pillinger is NOT calling us liars only mistaken. Because we could not broker a deal thru a member of the Beagle II team. We didn't know this at the time of our press release or we would have waited to talk to Pillinger. Anyway all that was needed was us to go thru proper channels. I've asked Barry for proof we didn't later go thru these channels and have yet to hear back from him on that. Who lies a person who claims to be a reporter who doesn't want to check facts or do any research after finding what he wants to find or a group enthusiastically offers a space mission money? Beagle II needed money! The question you got to ask yourself is would they have found a way to take our thousands?

***Support for the Beagle 2 grew rapidly, including a wealth of such high-profile people as Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair. That translated into increased donations from private benefactors, whom Pillinger declines to name.

The publicity also inspired Damien Hirst, a London avant-garde artist well-known for his paintings of colorful dots, to offer to create a miniature panel of dots for the Beagle 2. The lander's cameras will use the colored dots to calibrate their lenses shortly after landing on Mars.

"At art school we were encouraged to break boundaries, and very quickly we were looking beyond the studio as a place for artistic creativity ... but Mars?" Hirst said. "Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought about making artwork that would actually travel to the Red Planet."

Ferrari fans don't quite know what to make of the red paint heading to the planet aboard Mars Express. The company has boasted that its sample of "Rosso Corsa" paint will give the exotic car maker the ultimate bragging rights — the fastest car paint in the known universe, reaching 11,000 mph.

While it was not clear what scientific purpose the paint will serve, Ferrari said it had to undergo "rigorous" laboratory tests in the Netherlands and has been "space-qualified" for the trip.

"It's brilliant," said Marco A. Caceras, a senior space analyst for the U.S. research firm Teal Group Inc. "Europeans are struggling to fund many of their science programs, and so they came up with alternative means to financing the mission. Now they're developing an underground cult."

Help has also come from other unusual sources. T.C. Ng, a dentist in Hong Kong, designed the grinder that will dig under the Mars surface. He was visiting London when an acquaintance told him about the project and its problems in finding a suitable drill...***

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/la-sci-euromars2jun02,0,6435516.story?coll=orl-