The Beagle Has Landed

Cold red air so thin
It's no way to treat a dog
With a wounded paw

Initial iteration of Beagle 2 lander design (solar panel layout subsequently modified)

© Beagle2 All Rights Reserved

On hearing the news that Beagle 2 has been sighted on the surface of Mars; the inference being that a British space probe has reached the surface of another planet. 

British science probe Beagle 2 imaged on the surface of another planet

Credit: HiRISE/NASA/JP/Parker/Leicester

The Beagle 2 deployed configuration (final design iteration)

Credit: ESA MARS Express © Beagle2 All Rights Reserved

Prof. Pillinger (RIP, 9 May 1943 – 7 May 2014) would have been so proud...

R.I.P. Prof. Colin Pillinger CBE FRS FRAS FRGS (1943 – 2014) 

© Mike Peel; Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester. 

... As indeed am I, of the efforts of friends, colleagues at SEA and many other British companies.