Barry, I want my $100 back:

Beagle 2: A Fortunate Failure

Was Beagle 2 a media beat up from day one?

by Jeffrey F. Bell
Honolulu - Jan 13, 2004

Everyone interested in Mars exploration should now take a few minutes off from looking at those fine photos of Gusev Lava Flow sent back by the Spirit rover. It is time to fall on our knees, face toward Memphis and give thanks to Elvis that the British Mars lander Beagle 2 has failed. I can't think of any possible event more potentially disastrous for the future of unmanned planetary exploration than the success of this particular mission.

Why? Isn't every failed mission a blow to the Holy Cause of Space Travel? That's what the average Space Cadet thinks as a result of years of brainwashing. But intelligent Space Cadets realized a long time ago that this mission shouldn't have gotten a hearing at the Ministry of Silly Walks, much less the Ministry of Science and Innovation. I and many other students of space madness have been following Beagle 2 obsessively for years, watching it gradually drift over that indistinct line that separates mere eccentricity from certifiable lunacy.

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I called it a scam back when Pillinger hatched his little scheme. And a scam is what it was. It always was more about public relations than science