[Cuttnhorse]

I recall cracking up when I first saw the animated presentation of how the Beagle was going to bounce across the planet's serface and deploy. Nice to do things on the cheap, but it looks to me like the gang just peed away $37-million.

[cogitator]

I recall cracking up when I first saw the animated presentation of how the Beagle was going to bounce across the planet's serface and deploy. Nice to do things on the cheap, but it looks to me like the gang just peed away $37-million.

It worked for Pathfinder! (And it's the same way that Spirit and Opportunity will use to land this month. I think the main difference is that they will fire retrorockets to slow the descent speed; Beagle-2 was relying only on a parachute (I think).