Beagle 2 was conceived by Professor Colin Pillinger of the Open University in collaboration with the University of Leicester and a network of British industrial and academic partners.
Mark Sims served as Beagle 2 mission manager at the University of Leicester during the mission.
The UK Space Agency has launched a commemorative program to install 13 plaques at organizations, universities, museums, and companies involved in Beagle 2.
The British-built Beagle 2 lander was flown on ESA’s Mars Express mission and was not heard from after its December 2003 landing, with later NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images suggesting the spacecraft landed intact but failed to deploy all its solar panels or its communications antenna.