Well - I'd beg to differ - Beagle 2 had the caperbility for better science than any mars lander, past or present. Prof.P HAS to hype it to get all the funding he needed. Without the hype, there would have been no Beagle 2 at all - and whilst it may have crashed and burned, it still made huge inroads into the miniturization of instrumentation on board - and, for a few years, made space cool.

However - I find this article very very very funny

" for neglecting to highlight the chances of mission failure when they applied for British government funding."

Well HELL YES. Who goes to a body asking for money and says "Hi - this has EVERY chance of failing, but..."

You go and say "this is a fantastic mission, give us money please"

I wonder if Jane Wardell ever went to her boss saying "I'm crap at my job - give me a pay rise"

Doug