Quotes by Colin Pillinger

“Planetary protection is important and if one were to discover life on Mars then it would be perfectly sensible to say that there are certain areas that ought to be protected,”

“But this is serious science. I wouldnt let one of these instruments get chopped off to save anything.”

“All the ingredients for life on Mars exist.”

“A little set back like a lost lander should not discourage visionaries.”

“At the beginning, some people thought we were a me too mission: Send a lander to Mars and take a picture.”

“When its size, both actual and financial, is considered, it would be easy to believe Beagle 2 could not be aiming to accomplish much other than just raise a flag on Mars,”

“Unlike (the NASA) robots, Beagle 2 wont be going sightseeing. It is intent on discovering where there is or was life on Mars. It is happy to trade measurements for mobility.”

“Youd also want to use lunar rocks as building supplies - it is so costly to lift even an extra kilo of steel into space, running to many hundreds of thousands of dollars,”